Puritan Corner - Eternity for All (one way or the other)

"Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; 

eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise."
by Thomas Watson (1620-1686)
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2

IN the NEWS - Forget about Easter -- It's Transgender Day!!!

And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, 

the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, 

Tell us, when shall these things be? 

and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, 

and of the end of the world?...

And because iniquity shall abound, ....

And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning...Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; 

....But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Matthew 24:3,12Jude 1:7/Luke 17:28,29

Signs of the Times.....
"Biden issued an official proclamation on Good Friday, reading, “We honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union ....”
The official proclamation continued:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the

United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.

Biden’s chosen day for the inaugural celebration is Easter Sunday — a day on which, even Biden, who discusses his Catholic faith often, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Biden White House has made the promotion of transgenderism a cornerstone of its policy agenda, with Biden in his 2024 State of the Union address pledging loyalty to transgender Americans." 

Breitbart

Would Paul have "adapted" any of these things to a commemoration of the Resurrection?

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,... 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Easter was originally a celebration of Eostre, goddess of Spring, otherwise known as Ostara, Austra, and Eastre. One of the most

revered aspects of Ostara for both ancient and modern observers is a spirit of renewal.
Celebrated at Spring Equinox on March 21, Ostara marks the day when light is equal to darkness and will continue to grow. 

As the bringer of light after a long dark winter, the goddess was often depicted with the hare, an animal that represents the arrival of spring as well as the fertility of the season. 

According to Jacob Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie,... “Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the christian’s God.” 

AncientOrigins

Council of Nicaea, Sunday & Easter

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:9

"The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. decreed that Easter should be

observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21). Easter, therefore, can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25." 

Britannica

Creation Moment 3/31/2024 - The Money Quote from Science

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, Colossians 1:16

"Let’s begin with the money quote from the press release we are looking at today:

"The human body is among the most complex pieces of machinery to

exist. Every time you so much as scratch your nose, you’re using more intricate engineering than any rocket ship or supercomputer ever designed. It’s taken us centuries to deconstruct how this works, and each time someone discovers a new mechanism, a few more mysteries of human health make sense—and new treatments become available."

Q: Surely there must be a follow-up statement about evolution in this academic press release, right? 

Q: Maybe a pinch of incense to Father Charlie? 

Not this time.

The quote above comes from Professor Chuan He, “a world-renowned chemist.” In 2011, Professor He was involved in the discovery that RNA methylation helped regulate DNA. This was contrary to the Central Dogma of biochemistry: DNA makes RNA makes protein. The Central Dogma considered DNA the mastermind of life. The field of epigenetics has changed all that.

"His team found that the molecules called messenger RNA, previously known as simple couriers that carry instructions from DNA to proteins, were actually making their own impacts on protein production. This is done by a reversible chemical reaction called methylation; He’s key breakthrough was showing that this methylation was reversible. It wasn’t a one-time, one-way transaction; it could be erased and reversed.

“That discovery launched us into a modern era of RNA modification research, which has really exploded in the last few years,” said He. “This is how so much of gene expression is critically affected. It impacts a wide range of biological processes—learning and memory, circadian rhythms, even something so fundamental as how a cell differentiates itself into, say, a blood cell versus a neuron.” 

CEH

IN the NEWS - Whales, Rivers & Volcanos Granted "Personhood"

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 

Romans 1:23

--Whether elevating animals (and apparently rivers and volcanos) up to a godlike status (via Paganism) or degrading humans to be on par with a whale (via Darwinian thinking) the world is truly going mad in the 21st century of "Enlightened man".

"The king of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people has signed a ‘Declaration for the Ocean’ that calls for whales to be granted legal personhood as part of a plan to protect them. 

The declaration reportedly recognizes the mammals as legal persons with the inherent right to freedom of movement, natural behavior, and expression of their unique cultures. 

Whales have traditionally had cultural significance for the Maori as supernatural beings and as harbingers of spiritual growth. 

Some tribes see the mammals as the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the ocean. 

The move to grant whales personhood would not be without precedent. 

In 2017, New Zealand passed a groundbreaking law granting personhood status to the Whanganui River and Mount Taranaki volcano, both of which are important to the Maori people." 

RT

Where did Easter Eggs Come From?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 

for ye are the temple of the living God; 

as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; 

and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

2 Corinthians 6:16

"The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.

In ancient Egypt, an egg symbolized the sun, while for the Babylonians, the egg represents the hatching of the Venus Ishtar, who fell from heaven to the Euphrates.
During pagan spring festivals, eggs were offered as gifts or sacrifices to several different pagan gods. In medieval Europe, these offerings were made as prayers or offerings for a bountiful harvest, fertility, and protection.
Eggs were seen as fitting offerings to the gods and goddesses associated with springtime and agricultural abundance because of their rebirth connotations.

While the origins of Easter eggs are rooted in pagan traditions, they have been assimilated into Christian celebrations and gained a significant meaning in the Christian tradition over time. Today, Easter eggs hold both pagan and Christian associations.
Many pagan traditions from the festival of Eostre were adopted by Christian missionaries to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, as a way to encourage conversion.

The tradition of dyed and decorated eggs dates back to the 13th century when nobles would exchange them as gifts. English villagers would also frequently give eggs to their church on Good Friday.

Through the religious perspective, another source argues that in Mesopotamia, early Christians dyed eggs red to mimic the blood that Jesus shed during his crucifixion.
However, the tradition of dyeing eggs originated at least some 2,500 years ago in the Trypillian culture that lived in Central Europe. Historians believe the ancient Persians, or Zoroastrians, painted eggs for Nowruz, or Persian New Year. "
History Cooperative/ABC

Creation Moment 3/30/2024 - DegP

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, .... all things were created by Him, and for Him: Colossians 1:16

"German scientists writing in the Nature have described another “protease-chaperone machine” in cells that is widely conserved in living things. 

"Named DegP, this molecular machine has two functions: if it cannot refold a badly-folded protein, it dismantles it. Its functions appear to be heat sensitive. The six-sided cluster of protein chains forms a barrel-shaped cavity, with “a construction reminiscent of a compactor.” 

Customers are guided by tentacle-like “gatekeepers” into the
machine, and the door is closed. If the customer just needs cleaning to refold, the lint is scraped off and the molecule is ejected to refold; otherwise, it is compacted and destroyed. The machine is apparently versatile enough to handle many different kinds of proteins.

This is all so amazing, and raises additional questions; 

Q: how do these eyeless, mindless machines know just what to do? 

Q: How do they recognize a badly folded protein? 

Q: When our best biochemists can’t solve the highly complex problem of protein folding, how does a cell do it? 

Clearly a great deal of sophisticated hardware and software design is behind the construction of these tiny machines. And remember, these machines are already fully functional in bacteria, the simplest forms of life." 

CEH

Good Friday & "Fish" - When Christians Touched the Unclean Thing

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Michael Rood continues his terse explanation of the Easter season by describing for us the pagan practice surrounding Dagon:

"In later years “Good Friday”, the day that the Philistines sacrificed

to Dagon, the Philistine fish god, also became an integral part of the Easter pageantry (if you are over 40 years of age, you will recall eating fish on Friday in the public school system in America). This entire menagerie of satanic festivities is the pinnacle of the abominations that God had pronounced to the Children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. (John Michael Rood, The Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8)."

During the time of the Messiah and afterward, Friday was well known in pagan circles to be a celebration of Dagon. And so, as the Scriptural practices of appointed times were being abandoned and the pagan sun-god and other deity worship began to get melded into the worship practices of followers of the Messiah, too, the blending of Dagon\fish-god worship into worship of the Messiah proceeded.

The Christian Church had adopted the pagan symbol of the fish. We all know how the third century "believers" took the symbol of the fish and used it as a representation of faith in Messiah (whom they called "Christ"). 

 The justification goes something like this: 

 The Greek word for fish, ivcqu,j, represents Christ because the

letters which spell it also are the beginning letters of these words: the iota begins the Greek name of the Christ, Iaysous; the chi is the first letter in the Greek Christos (Xristos or "Christ"); the theta begins the word "theos" or "God"; the upsilon begins the word hwee-os ("son"); and the sigma represents "sotayr" or Savior. 

* Thus, the reasoning goes, ichthus ("fish") represents "Iaysous Xristos theos huee-os sotayr" - or "Jesus Christ God('s) son, (and) Savior."

The fish symbol really has nothing to do with the Messiah of Scripture. But in order to make palatable the fish god Dagon in "Christian" circles, the word "fish" had to be given a Christian meaning! And thus was born the adoption of the very pagan fish symbol and fish god into the worship practices of those who follow the Savior of the world."

BT

HEALTH NOTE - What's in your GM Cereal?

Beloved, 

I wish above all things that thou mayest.... be in health,... 

3 John 1:2

"A new report is raising concerns over General Mills’ new cereal line after testing revealed that Trix LOADED cereal is literally loaded with high levels of heavy metals and agrochemicals.

General Mills, Inc. on Feb. 1 launched “LOADED,” a new cereal line with “puffed-up larger-than-life squares” of General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs cereals filled with artificially flavored vanilla crème. 

Trix LOADED boasts 17 grams of whole grain per serving and 12 vitamins and minerals. 

Yet testing by Moms Across America (MAA), an organization dedicated to educating and empowering others to create healthy communities, found the artificially flavored creme-filled breakfast food also contains measurable levels of aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, lead, glyphosate, and pesticides shown to be harmful to humans.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, MAA director Zen Honeycutt said her organization tested two samples of General Mills’ Trix LOADED cereal because they were alarmed that the company, which had previously seemed very committed to supporting regenerative organic agriculture, launched a cereal “loaded with creme, food dyes, and highly-processed foods.” 

PJM

On the Streets of Babylon: Easter Drag Shows on the Streets

Babylon is fallen, is fallen,..

Come out of her, My people,
Revelation 14:8/18:4

There seems to be " Easter Drag Shows "spotted on the Streets of Babylon ....

"A Canadian church is incorporating a drag show as part of their Easter Sunday service to show “solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community” and serve as a “sacred act of protest.”

Calgary Unitarian ‘Church,’ led by the excretable Samaya Oakley, is putting on the ‘Drag Me to Church’ event to honor and celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility, which overlaps with Easter Sunday.
They explain on their Facebook page: "Come join us for an Easter Sunday you’ll never forget! This will be a a thought-provoking service and sacred act of protest as we support our Trans Siblings during this current political climate. We’ll exploring the concept of TRANSformation in today’s society with DRAG Queen performances and story time, singing, dancing, and thought-provoking speakers. We’re also going to pass the collection plate and 100% of the proceeds will go to Skipping Stone – a non-profit that supports Trans folx and are mobilizing to bring legal action to protect our communities." 

Protestia

Creation Moment 3/29/2024 - The "intellectual hole" of Evolution

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20 NIV

Below is a quote from evolutionists--who ADMIT that the evolutionary models don't support evolution--yet they still refuse to admit a Creator. They continue to dig themselves into an intellectual hole......for as evolutionary models CRUMBLE they keep kicking the can down the road as they try to pin the DESIGN they see on anything but a DESIGNER. 

"....Creationism that depends upon intervention by a divine Creator. That is clearly unscientific because it brings an arbitrary supernatural force into the evolution process. 

The commonly accepted alternative is Neo-Darwinism, which is

clearly naturalistic science but ignores much contemporary molecular evidence and invokes a set of unsupported assumptions about the accidental nature of hereditary variation. 

Neo-Darwinism ignores important rapid evolutionary processes such as symbiogenesis, horizontal DNA transfer, action of mobile DNA and epigenetic modifications. Moreover, some Neo-Darwinists have elevated Natural Selection into a unique creative force that solves all the difficult evolutionary problems without a real empirical basis. Many scientists today see the need for a deeper and more complete exploration of all aspects of the evolutionary process. The DNA record does not support the assertion that small random mutations are the main source of new and useful variations." FromThirdWay

Why?

"Christ died on the cross 

--to redeem men from sin and to sanctify them, 

--to blot out from this world everything that relates to sin, 

--and to restore this world to its original Edenic glory. 

Q: Why, then, would Christ seek to abolish the Sabbath, which God set aside and hallowed in the sinless beauty of Eden? 

The Sabbath is not a post-Fall accommodation of sin. 

Sabbath objectors make no serious attempt to face this question.... the Lord calls the Sabbath “My holy day,” and then appeals to us to call it “a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Isaiah 58:13."

 F.D. Nichols

Genesis - Revelation SERIES Page

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,

and all the host of them.

Genesis 2:1

Adam(s) Wedding

Dig Deeper: Genesis - Revelation SERIES: Adam(s) Wedding 

The Serpent

Dig Deeper: Genesis - Revelation SERIES: The Serpent (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Sorrow & Death

Dig Deeper: Genesis - Revelation SERIES: Sorrow & Death (master1844-dc.blogspot.com)

Heavens and the Earth

Dig Deeper: Genesis - Revelation SERIES: Heavens and the Earth 

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled...
Revelation 20:1-3

N the NEWS - Fighting For "Pride".....

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7
---What is in a Politicians Heart is what he Fights For...or at least in the Hearts of his Base Voters he is appealing to.....

"Joe Biden was apparently fooled into signing into law a ban on flying gay pride flags at American embassies, with his administration vowing to fight the measure despite his signature approving it. theban was included as a provision of the $1.2 trillion spending bill that had been passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate,
before being signed into law by Biden on Saturday.

Biden’s State Department had first authorized the flying of the flags,

including the rainbow flag and the “progress” flag featuring colors that represent so-called “transgender” people, as well as black and brown lines, in 2021.

Apparently unaware of the provision’s inclusion until after it had been signed, a Biden spokesman issued a statement saying that Biden “believes it

was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans.”

The spending bill, which is over 1,000 pages long, explicitly states that “none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State.”
ZeroHedge

IN the NEWS - Cannabis' Sunday Push

"Just when you thought that the movement to revive Sunday in

society could not sink any lower, it did. A new California-based cannabis company has come out with a product to combat “Sunday Scaries.”

Sunday scaries is a term that has become very popular in today’s society and is used to describe the feeling of anxiety and dread that many people experience on Sundays, typically in anticipation of the upcoming workweek or school week. 

The Sunday Scaries cannabis company claims that certain “experts” say this condition arises every Sunday and is marked by stress, depression, or tension related to the responsibilities that await people on Monday morning.

The cannabis company made the following claims:
• “Sunday Scaries are the irrational fears and internal darkness that overcome you on Sundays, when the impending doom of Monday is

right around the corner.” 
• “Many people face this challenge, but fortunately, there are ways to combat these feelings of apprehension and regain control over your weekends. With our guidance below and the products we’ve designed specifically for the Sunday scaries, relief is well within reach.” 
• “Sunday anxiety can cause a range of symptoms from mild to severe. These include: anxiety, depression, panic attacks, mind racing, low self-esteem, increased sweating, upset stomach, headache, heart attack.” 

This is a marketing scheme designed to get you to buy cannabis for rest and relaxation on Sunday. Even though many people claim that the ingestion of cannabis has therapeutic benefits, including relief from pain, anxiety, and other health issues, the negative effects far

exceed any minor temporary relief. 

A recent study published by CBS News states that cannabis, whether “smoked, eaten, or vaporized,” leads to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. 

Those are just two reasons to be concerned, not to mention that cannabis also leads to impaired driving, addiction, other respiratory illnesses, mental health issues, and a host of other problems.

Cannabis is just like Sunday worship;

 it is a scam and a hoax and will never lead to lasting relief.

The solution to Sunday Scaries and every other ailment and suffering is to love God and keep His commandments, including the seventh day, Saturday, and recognize Sunday as just another work day. God has given us the gift of work, which is nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of. 

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” Isaiah 58:13, 14.

The Sabbath is a sign of God’s favor for His people. 

When we delight ourselves in the God of the Sabbath, goodness and mercy will follow us, and we will enjoy both physical and spiritual blessings, including prosperity. 

We must remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 

AdventMessenger

Creation Moment 3/28/2024 - Unusual Approach of Darwin

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,..... 

Romans 1:22

"In an era when natural philosophers were consciously coming to rely on idioms of 

prediction, 

experiment, 

demonstration, 

and discovery, 

when accredited truths of nature were established by seeing and believing, Darwin’s approach was doubly unusual. 

--He was inviting people to believe in a world run by irregular, unpredictable contingencies, 

--as well as asking them to accept his solution for the simple reason that it seemed to work." 

 Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, p. 56

Genesis - Revelation SERIES: Heavens and the Earth

Old Heavens and Earth
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, 

and all the host of them. 

Genesis 2:1

New Heavens and Earth
And he who was seated on the throne said, 

Behold, I am making all things new. 

Revelation 21:5 ESV

IN the NEWS - Electing Politicians after your own heart: RAMIFICATION Case Study

....being filled with all unrighteousness, .... wickedness,.... maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; .... Romans 1:29

"Baltimore is now facing apocalyptic levels of policing shortages.
Last week, THREE police officers patrolled a whole district of 61,000 residents.

Police are now UNABLE to respond to calls, 

including for child assault.

The radical leftists in control of Baltimore City Hall have plunged the metro area just north of Washington, DC, into apocalyptic levels. We advise readers to entirely avoid the metro area 

as violent crime spirals out of control.

---Failed social justice reforms,

---defunding the police, 

---and widespread mistrust of the police 

have resulted in a skeleton police force that will no longer be able to protect residents in some regions of the city.
Several radio transmissions of a police dispatcher pleaded for additional officers as 911 calls came pouring in. At least ten calls went unanswered in a matter of minutes.
Avoid Baltimore as it implodes. Remember, the collapsing police force means more 9-11 calls will go unanswered." 

ZeroHedge

Papal Notes - Francis' New "autobiography"

"Pope Francis’ new autobiography just came out on March 19,

2024, called “Life: My Story Through History,” and is available on Amazon for $43.82.  

In it, he reflects on the historic events that he personally witnessed and that have changed the course of human history. Part of his biography is dedicated to supporting and endorsing the homosexual agenda. Pope Francis is working to increase LGBT+ diversity and affirmation in the church and across the world.

Selections from the Pope’s autobiography have appeared in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, which say:
• “Homosexual marriage is not possible, but civil unions are: It is right that these people who live the gift of love can have legal coverage like everyone else. Jesus often went out to meet people who lived on the margins, and that is what the Church should do today with people from the LGBTQ+ community, who are often marginalized within the Church: make them feel at home, especially those who have received baptism and they are to all intents and purposes part of the people of God. And whoever has not received baptism and wishes to receive it, or who wishes to be a godfather or godmother, please be welcomed.” 

The autobiography of the Pope and the Vatican’s recent historic

decision to permit priests to bless same-sex relationships are unmistakable signs of an attempt to alter human history by corrupting it and undermining the clear word of God. On the other hand, the Bible reveals that there are some sins that are so terrible that they call out to God from the earth:
“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.” Genesis 18:20-21.

It is a sad reality that the Pope’s new autobiography is helping to spread immorality in the church. This is one of the most obvious signs of how deep the crisis in the religious world is. The Pope wants the church to bless homosexual relationships—something that God’s word says is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13).

It is blasphemous to try to ask God to bless something He cannot bless. It is forbidden to support, encourage, or attend the public blessing of heresy. Instead, we must reaffirm to people what God’s will is for our families. According to God’s word, homosexuality is never morally acceptable under any circumstance and is a departure from God’s perfect will. With all the confusion being spread in these last days, may God grant us the ability to stay faithful.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2." AdventMessenger

Creation Moment 3/27/2024 - Imprints of our Ancestors

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Romans 8:22

*Think about the Ripple Effects down through the Pages of History - both pro and con in the below article.....

"The findings provide evidence of "transgenerational epigenetic inheritance" - 

*that the environment can affect an individual's genetics, 

*which can in turn be passed on.

One of the researchers Dr Brian Dias told the BBC: "This might be one mechanism that descendants show imprints of their ancestor.
There is absolutely no doubt that what happens to the sperm and egg will affect subsequent generations."

Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behavior of subsequent generations.

A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their "grandchildren".

Experts said the results were important for phobia and anxiety research.
The animals were trained to fear a smell similar to cherry blossom.

The team at the Emory University School of Medicine, in the US, then looked at what was happening inside the sperm.
They showed a section of DNA responsible for sensitivity to the cherry blossom scent was made more active in the mice's sperm.
Both the mice's offspring, and their offspring, were "extremely sensitive" to cherry blossom and would avoid the scent, despite never having experienced it in their lives.
Changes in brain structure were also found.

"The experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations," the report concluded." 

BBC

Genesis - Revelation SERIES: Sorrow & Death

Sorrow & Death Introduced
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, 

till thou return unto the ground; 

for out of it wast thou taken: 

for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

Genesis 3:19

Sorrow & Death Removed
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 

and there shall be no more death, 

neither sorrow, 

nor crying, 

neither shall there be any more pain: 

for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4

Kiss of Betrayal

Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?

Luke 22:48

"The kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 

--Let me be on my guard when the world puts on a loving face, for it

will, if possible, betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. 

--Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes very great reverence for it. Let me beware of the sleek-faced hypocrisy which is armor-bearer to heresy and infidelity. 

The young man, void of understanding, was led astray by the kiss of the strange woman: may my soul be so graciously instructed all this day, that "the much fair speech" of the world may have no effect upon me. Holy Spirit, let me not, a poor frail son of man, be betrayed with a kiss!

Q: But what if I should be guilty of the same accursed sin as Judas, that son of perdition? 

--I have been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; 

--I am a member of his visible Church; 

--I sit at the communion table: 

all these are so many kisses of my lips. 

O God, forbid that I should be a high-soaring professor, and then fall at last into the lake of fire, because I betrayed my Master with a kiss." 

Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 3/26/2024 - Hemple’s Dilemma of the 3rd Way

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,.... 

Romans 1:22

"As the body of evidence against the Darwinian model has grown ever larger, many scientists have started peeling off to look for other options. 

A whole community of scientific scholars are seeking a “third way” to explain life, besides the unacceptable options of 

(a) Creationism or 

(b) the now-defunct neo-Darwinian synthesis. 

University of Chicago molecular biologist James Shapiro, engineer Raju Pookottil, and Oxford physiologist Denis Noble have even launched The Third Way website to aggregate the works of sympathetic scientists.
The homepage of website contains this interesting proclamation:

"It has come to our attention that THE THIRD WAY web site is wrongly being referenced by proponents of Intelligent Design and creationist ideas as support for their arguments. We intend to make it clear that the website and scientists listed on the web site do not support or subscribe to any proposals that resort to inscrutable divine forces or supernatural intervention, whether they are called Creationism, Intelligent Design, or anything else."

Clear enough. “Supernatural intervention” is out of the question for Third Way evolutionary biologist.
Q: Or is it? I wonder how closely the Third Way team has paid attention to the views of their contributors.

Take Andreas Wagner, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Zürich. As a true third-way-er, Wagner is no friend of creationism or ID, but he admits that the mechanism of neo-Darwinism doesn’t

explain how new innovations could emerge. 

So he has written his own book to explain how evolution really works, The Arrival of the Fittest. Wagner believes that beneficial mutations are chosen from a sort of “library” of theoretical possibilities, with many possible mutations leading to each type of adaptation, scattered all throughout the library. This supposedly allows lifeforms to evolve far more quickly than they would otherwise.

No “supernatural intervention” here. But look what Wagner has to say about this library idea, from an interview:

"Think about this library that I mentioned… This library’s essentially a mathematical concept. And we could say it’s a Platonic concept in the sense that it exists in an abstract space of our minds — or

somewhere out there, we are not quite sure where. And so the question arises… abstract mathematical concepts, are they real in some sense, in some general sense, or are they just figments of our imagination? And I think that’s a very interesting question. You know, I don’t have a final answer to that question, but I’m leaning towards the answer that Plato has given — namely, that they are actuallyrealer than our reality, that our reality emanates, if you will, from them."

Platonic forms, “somewhere out there,” “realer than our reality” … that sounds pretty supernatural to me. “Our reality emanates from them” is practically the definition of “supernatural.” If not, what is the distinction between “supernatural” and “natural”? If we were to find something truly “supernatural,” what would it be like?

Of course, you could come up with a definition of “natural” that includes these Platonic forms. The truth is, naturalism is infinitely adaptable: since it is defined as the belief that only the “natural”

exists, it can always be preserved by simply broadening the membership of “natural,” forever. 

If something, once dismissed as “supernatural,” turns out to be real, it can be redefined as “natural.” So even if science were to discover, say, an immaterial human soul, naturalists could just call it a “quantum entity” or something, and go on with business as usual. The same goes for leprechauns, love, Narnia, or God himself. Anything supernatural that might be discovered — up to and above an entirely different universe or plane of being — can simply be redubbed “part of nature.”

The reasoning is circular and tautological: Naturalism asserts that the natural is all that exists, and all that exists is defined as “natural.”

Q: If calling things “natural” makes people feel better, why not let them? 

A: The trouble is that some scientists — such as those at The Third Way — try to treat this as an actual distinction, not a mere matter of definition. And then everything undesirable is excluded on the basis of being “supernatural.”

Exploiting Hemple’s Dilemma
They get away with this by using a clever (though no doubt unconscious) equivocation. You see, “naturalism” in this context has two possible interpretations. 

--One is obviously false, and the other is trivial.
-1-It could mean that natural sciences must only study things that have already been discovered by the natural sciences. 

In that case, science is going to be sadly limited. 

-2-Or, it could mean that anything the natural sciences do in fact discover will be defined as “natural,” since natural sciences were able to discover it. That is perfectly fine, though rather uninteresting. (This problem, first proposed by the philosopher Carl Hemple, is called Hemple’s Dilemma.)

Here’s where naturalists like those at The Third Way get tricky: when they say that science must be methodologically naturalist, it isn’t clear which version of the thesis they are referring to. And rather than defining terms, they exploit the ambiguity to equivocate.

First, they maintain that science can only study natural entities — not supernatural entities. They are here using the weaker definition of naturalism: whatever science discovers is natural by definition.

But then they go on to say that God cannot be investigated by science, because God is supernatural, not natural. Here they are using the stronger definition: that only entities that are already know to be part of nature can be hypothesized.

No one could defend this stronger definition, but no one has to. It’s slipped in, unnoticed, by scholars who are unwilling to consider evidence for entities they find unappealing.

Well, they can do that if they want. We can’t stop them. 

But as they uncover evidence that truly implies design in life — “supernatural” or otherwise — we will continue (with sincerest respect) to reference it."

DanielWitt/EN&V