ARKY s News. Volume 21, #3 Oct Dec 2015

Transcription

1 The ARK Foundation of Da yt on, Inc. ARKY s News Volume 21, #3 Oct Dec 2015 Inside this issue: Freedom Means We Are 1 The Wonder of it All: More on Flight New Arky Web Design 3 2nd Law of Thermodynamics The Circle of the Earth 5 Prayer Requests 5 Just Another Thanksgiving? 6 Kroger Rewards Renewal Reminder Kids Korner 7 ARKY s Calendar of Events 8 Financial Statement 9 Membership renewal form and Bookstore info Bible Humor 10 Newsletter Editor Mark Jurkovich ARK Board Members Ron Cooper Jeannie Day Mark Jurkovich Sheridan King Adrian Rose Freedom means we are: Free to Focus on What Matters Most G od has given created us, men and women of the race of Adam with certain basic personal rights: Life, Liberty and the obligation to pursue Property (our earthly Happiness and substance). This means we can focus on what matters most to us. God s plan was that people depend on Him, on His riches and His eternal plan for us. In Gen 1-2, God created, gave life to, man. Then He gave them liberty to care for the garden. At the fall life was limited, liberty was limited to outside the garden, and property had to be gained by working "the sweat of the brow". As our founders recorded, "How can we be happy without property?", so we must work for our gain in the liberty permitted by our years and the knowledge of our God. By Ron Cooper Rarely have men focused on God s plan for them. Rather, they have focused on their own plans and used tyranny, slavery, domination, war, and deceit to obtain control over lives, liberty and property. That control is to remove or destroy these God given rights. Kings and judges who did what they willed was the result. Government was based on various good and evil forms of leadership. If the King was good the people prospered; if not the King prospered with his government. Several other names for government have existed. We call them democracy, socialism, progressive-ism, communism, and others. In each the people gave up their liberty for some measure of security. The law of government rather than God is what the people depended on and government becomes the defacto god. Twice government was formed to really benefit the people according to God s plan. First Israel followed God successfully from the time of David until they left the Creator God for other gods. (Continued on page 4)

2 PAGE 2 The Wonder of it All: More on the Miracle of Flight By Mark Jurkovich L ast issue, I covered the miraculous mechanics of flight, that is the beautiful way God designed birds to enable flight. But that still is not enough to guarantee flight. You still need something called stability and control, which simply means getting the aerodynamics right. Everyone has heard about the modern technological marvels that the increasingly popular quad copters are. But most don t realize the extensive sophisticated design process that has gone into making them automatically controllable. Without that design, your everyday person would have never been able to fly one. If it has taken mankind so long to be able to design and build these flying machines, what does that say for our creator who has designed myriads of much more sophisticated flying creatures in one day? Just think of all the vastly diverse creatures that fly. From the hummingbird that can hover and fly backwards, to the giant soaring condor, to the aptly named swift (one species can fly over 100 mph!), to the even faster and highly maneuverable falcon. Then the insect world has an even greater diversity in types of flying creatures; butterfly, dragonfly, house fly, beetles that hide their wings when not flying, and the bee just to name a few. I can remember the saying even used to be that, The bee should not be able to fly, but it does not know it. So it does it anyway. So much for man s superior knowledge. Intense research con- Takeoff tinues in studying how many of these insects fly, in hopes of mimicking them in the designs of miniature flying machines. Truly we are thinking God s thoughts after him. (Johann Kepler) The differences are so great, it is crazy to believe that all these insects evolved from one ancestor, and all these birds evolved from one proto bird; or even worse that flight evolved independently multiple times within the insect world, and bird world, not to mention bats and pterosaurs. But I repeat myself from last issue. So how do birds control their flight? They have multiple mechanisms; from turning their head, twisting their body, changing the shape of their wings, to spreading tail feathers and pointing them in different directions. One study of hummingbirds I saw even pointed to shifting of their center of gravity. That is a tremendous amount of design of feedback and control mechanisms that enables these creatures to perform these feats of flight so effortlessly. For example, just Maneuvering Laughing Gulls think about it next time you see a flock of birds fly in and out of trees with nary a collision with branches or each other. Moving hummingbird tail Not only is there an intense amount of design involved in how each creature controls their flight, they also need to navigate. Man is still just beginning to understand how the animal kingdom can navigate, especially the vast distances of both migrating birds and insects. For example, Monarch butterflies winter in Mexico. How can they possibly fly that far and return to the same place year after year? Scientists (Continued on page 3)

3 New Web design coming to ARKy Arky has signed up with the CharityAdvantage Outreach 20/20 Program to thoroughly revamp our web pages. Ron and others have done a valiant job keeping it running, but it lacks many features and organization available to modern web sites. Arky.org will split and blend features with ArkFoundationDayton.org for the best combination (Two webs domains). Here is a list of their services. If you come up with any ideas as you look down this list, be sure to let Ron know, so you can help make the ARKY web sites as useful as possible. New areas can now be turned over to others to maintain and build independent of Ron with less technical or more technical skills. Professional Website Built by Our Certified Webmasters Advanced Content Management System Point & Click Visual Editor for Updating Your Web Pages Mobile Friendly Site for Your Users and Web Administration Load Audio, Video, Streaming, Flash, and PDF Online Donations with Donor Management Contact System with Database Management Online Store with Inventory Management Online Calendar with Events Management Custom Forms with Database Management Cloud Based Data Storage for Easy and Secure Access Powerful Mass er for All Your Donors and Contacts Search Engine Marketing for Google, Yahoo, and BING Connect to All Social Media Secure Website Area for Designated Groups with Unique Logins Photo Galleries with Management of All Your Images Discussion Forum, Blog, and Surveys to Build Social Networks Online Domain Name and Business Consulting Expert Tech Support From Agents Who Understand Your Needs (Flight: Continued from page 2) PAGE 3 have discovered that birds have an accurate sense of direction because of three compasses that track the sun, stars, and magnetic field. 1 The same tools man has used to navigate for centuries, God has designed into birds from the start! In short, every aspect of creatures that fly shouts out I was designed!. So the next flying creature you see, even the pesky fly, remember to marvel at God s infinite, awe inspiring design. And also remember Matthew 6:25-33 ( Look at the birds of the air. Are you not much more valuable than they? ) Footnotes: 1. migration/birds-flawless-flight-plan/ 2. All images by Mark Jurkovich A few videos of birds in flight: Slow Motion Hummingbirds 9: Slow motion pigeons: Golden eagle: Falcon and raven: Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold. From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar. Job 39:26-29

4 PAGE 4 (Freedom Continued from page 1) Second the United States of America followed the Biblical principles of limited government to form a Constitutional Republic depending on God s guidance and His people to keep it. Now we have left those principles and given that government away by neglect. We should have secured these rights; governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. God gives rights; government can only take them away when the people don t protect them. The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Order and Disorder in the Universe Psalm 102: 25 & "At the beginning You existed and laid the foundations of the earth; the heavens are the work of your hands. (26) They shall perish, but You shall remain and endure; yes, all of them shall wear out and became old like a garment..." The Second Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Increasing Entropy, or the Law of Increasing Disorder, is one of the fundamental laws of nature; and indeed, is supreme among the fundamental laws of the universe! The universe is composed of gas, dust, moons, planets, and stars that have been organized into clusters and super-clusters of galaxies. In other words, the universe is an universe of highly ordered systems of ringed planets, moons, and galaxies in a state of low entropy (high order). However, the Law of Increasing Entropy--the Law of Increasing Disorder--Time's Arrow, states that in all systems, everything goes from order to disorder naturally, never from disorder to order naturally, unless intelligence, a code, or a program directs and organizes the components of the system into a state of order. In other words, naturalistic chance processes do not generate ordered systems from disordered or randomly distributed components. In fact, chance processes cannot even produce codes or programs that contain meaningful information! Furthermore, it is self-evident that codes and programs such as civil codes and computer programs are products of human intelligence! Things never become newer and more orderly with the passage of time. On the contrary, they become older and more disorderly with the passage of time. In other words, everything eventually deteriorates and wears out in accordance with the Law of Increasing Disorder as described in Psalm 102:26. For example, stars eventually die when they exhaust their nuclear fuel and some stars become supernovas when they blow themselves apart in the most violent outburst of explosive energy in the universe. Well, since everything goes from order to disorder naturally, how did the universe and complex living systems become ordered in the first place? Since the Law of Increasing Disorder, the Law itself, proves that components of both living and non-living systems do not organize themselves into orderly arrangements naturally, there is only one possible answer: it took intelligence, the intelligence of the Creator to organize matter into an orderly universe that we observe today. Indeed, it took the intelligence of the Creator to arrange the millions of chemical "letters" of the genetic codes of animals and humans into correct sequences just as it takes intelligence to correctly arrange the parts of any non-living system into a functional whole. Furthermore, both living and non-living systems are not only products of intelligence, they exhibit intelligent design, and with intelligent design comes function and purpose, two qualities that are only associated with intelligence! The universe is a highly ordered system of billions of galaxies that is becoming more (Continued on page 7) ARKY s CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE Questions about Bible trustworthiness, real dinosaur history, flood evidence, where death & suffering started, American history? We have answers! Books/Bibles/DVDs/CDs/Gifts/Crafts <> S. Smithville Rd At Wayne Avenue 1 mi. South of US 35

5 The Circle of the Earth PAGE 5 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22) T he discovery that the world is round is considered one of man s greatest scientific achievements, often wrongly attributed to Christopher Columbus. Columbus was, indeed, a courageous thinker and explorer, as well as a Bible-believing Christian, but many scholars had long before so concluded, and many people had already migrated to the New World. As far as the sphericity of the earth is concerned, the flat-earth myth of the Middle Ages was not the belief of many scholars of antiquity. The Bible, in particular, never hints of a drop-off point at the earth s edge or any such notion as that. Its few references to the four corners of the earth (e.g. Isaiah 11:12) literally mean the four quarters of the earth - that is, the four quadrants of the compass. In our text for the day, the word for circle is translated compass in Proverbs 8:27: [God] set a compass upon the face of the depth (same as deep, referring to the ocean). Other occurrences are in Job 26:10: He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end, and Job 22:14: [God] walketh in the circuit of heaven. All of these passages are best understood in terms of a spherical earth, with its basic shape at sea level determined by its ocean surface as controlled by gravity. The Hebrew word itself (khug) basically means a circle. Any vertical cross-section through the earth s center is a great circle, of course, with Time-lapse photos of the moon during a lunar partial eclipse, clearly showing the circular shadow produced by the ball-shaped earth. any straight line on the ocean surface actually representing an arc of such a circle. This is only one of many pre-scientific insights of the Bible written by divine inspiration long before the rise of modern science. From Henry M Morris, Days of Praise, October 13, 2014, Institute for Creation Research. Image credit: Prayer Requests Please be in prayer for the ministry of the Ark Foundation: - For the Lord s hand on the development of the new web site. - For revival in our land - That Ark Foundation be used in strengthening believers and drawing unbelievers to the Lord - For Ron and Brenda as they travel to many Christian venues on behalf of ARK - For direction for Ark Foundation s future - New church contacts - More believers learn about and take advantage of Ark s resources - Open up opportunities/locations for presenting seminars and traveling presentations - More volunteers, financial partners, and prayer partners - For our former board member, James Johnson as he enters the mission field.

6 Just Another Thanksgiving? by Jeremy Ham, Answers in Genesis, November 22, 2012 This holiday comes every year, so at times Thanksgiving Day can seem like just a tired tradition. After all, each time is usually about the same as the year before. If your Thanksgiving Day is like mine, some family and friends get together to express their thankfulness and share a meal, such as eating lamb. Okay, so maybe we have some different traditions since turkey seems to be the standard for Thanksgiving. Sometimes we can grow discontent with cultural or family customs and with doing simple, repetitive things, such as just being thankful. If life ever starts to seem old hat to you, take some time to stop and remember the reason we do many of these same things year after year. Each year, we recover some of the Christian roots for this national holiday. For a Christian, thankfulness extends far beyond Thanksgiving Day expressing gratitude to our God is a vital part of being a believer in Christ. Suffering and trials come to us all, and it is usually easy to focus on the negative aspects of pain and difficulty. However, a Christian s outlook should be one of praise and thankfulness to God who has saved us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Please take a moment to read Ephesians 1:3 14 and consider how our God and Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. In this passage we clearly see that God is in control and that He had a plan before the creation of the world. He has adopted us as His children, and because of this we will receive a glorious, eternal inheritance. Jesus Christ s sacrifice on the Cross has redeemed us from sin, and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. These are just a few spiritual blessings from the first chapter of Ephesians for which we can praise God. We can never pay Him back PAGE 6 for all of these good gifts, yet we owe Him no debt. That truth alone is reason enough to help us continually praise and glorify the Lord not just on Thanksgiving. So during this Thanksgiving Day, see what praises you can find from Ephesians 1:3 14, as well as listing the good things God has done in your life. Thanksgiving is a verb, an action work; not a passive noun. Count your blessings beyond turkey and gravy... Did YOU renew your Kroger Rewards Program? Everyone MUST reregister EVERY April. Not yet using Kroger Rewards program? Just register/re-register your Kroger Plus card at KROGER.COM and we automatically get credited when you use it. Select The ARK Foundation of Dayton, Inc (organization # 81517) when you register.

7 Kids Korner Hey, kids, TJ here. Have you ever felt that your life was unfair? Have you ever questioned God? You wouldn't be the only person if you did. Think about this: God actually included a book in the Bible about a man named Job (long O sound) who had the nerve to question God! I mean really. What's up with that? Why would God include this guy's life story when he questioned Him? What's really amazing is that God turned the table on him and asked Job a few questions. (He already knew the answers to them.) So, if you look at Job 38-41, you notice that Where were you when I laid the earth s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Job 38:4 God takes charge of the situation and puts Job in his place as a created human being...made by God the Creator! Verse after verse, God asks Job one question after another after another...you get the idea. The Scripture reveals that God knows everything and can do everything! Wow! What a God! In 40:2, the Lord asked Job, "Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?" It's very cool to see this conversation in the Bible. It shows how the Lord God relates to the human beings He created. He knows our ways better Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. Job 40:15 (2nd Law: Continued from page 4) PAGE 7 than anyone! So, keep this in mind, kids. No matter what happens, we don't need to question God. Whatever He has planned for His people is for the best! Until next time, kiddies, TJ signing out. disordered with the passage of time. If the universe has always been in existence, that is having no beginning, the universe would be in a state or maximum disorder or maximum entropy. In this state, there would be no stars, no galaxies, and nothing but total darkness and a temperature of absolute zero (no heat) everywhere throughout space. But the universe is not in a state of total disorder. In fact, the universe has been ordered into billions of giant systems of stars called galaxies. The Law of Increasing Disorder, the Law itself, proves that the universe could not have ordered itself into billions of galaxies which have been organized into clusters and super-clusters of galaxies. Furthermore, the Law of Increasing Entropy points to a beginning or the universe when the universe was in a state of zero entropy or maximum order, and we are back to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Then how did the universe become organized into ordered systems of planets, stars, and galaxies? There is only one answer: the Law of Increasing Disorder, the Law itself, proves the universe was ordered and organized by the intelligence of a Supernatural Agent, an Orderer, an Organizer, the Creator Himself (Genesis 1:1). Therefore, the Law of Increasing Entropy is in perfect agreement with Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 102:26. (from

8 PAGE 8 ARKY s Calendar of Events (as of 10/8/15) See more details and complete list at *Oct 12, 7:00 pm to 8:35 pm. Audacity: Love Can't Stay Silent DVD and discussion with DVD at ARKY's House. Are you prepared to be able to speak with a friend or family member who endorses gay "marriage" or transgender issues? This is a dramatic film about a Christian struggling to find his voice as a young believer in a culture that aggressively rejects the biblical view of homosexuality. This movie is perfect for our modern challenges, following him as he learns to lovingly speak the truth to his friends, in spite of their opposing views. Sensitive subject matter. *Nov 9, 7:00 pm to 8:35 pm. Evolution's Achilles' Heel DVD at ARKY's House. 15 Ph.D scientists explain evolution's fatal flaws-- in areas claimed to be its greatest strengths. This 96-minute documentary interviews 15 PhD scientists about the greatest weaknesses of modern evolutionary theory. The public generally only hears one side of the origins debate, but with stunning animations and dramatic footage, this presents a powerful "warts and all" critique of textbook evolutionary orthodoxy. You'll also discover just how much this debate impacts your view of yourself and the world around you. Includes bonus footage. Nov 28, 2015-to Jan 24, At the Manger: World Nativity Traditions, Special Collections at Roesch Library, University of Dayton 300 College Park, Dayton, OH *Dec 14, 7:00 pm to 8:35 pm. DVD: Genesis 1:1 with Ken Ham at ARKY's House. The Foundational Verse of the Foundational Book! Enjoy this candid presentation as the author/speaker shares heartfelt concerns with a small group of pastors. Discover what drives him to continue delivering strong messages about biblical authority in today's scoffing world. While uncovering the deep meaning of each primary word in Genesis 1:1, it offers an expanded paraphrase that sheds great light on the rich meaning of the Bible's very first verse. Includes answers to questions he often receives, such as: What was God doing all that time before He created? Are atheists actually atheists? Where did God come from? He also addresses hot topics not often handled in his other DVDs, such as when angels were created, when Adam sinned, and more. Check out further events offered by other Creation groups web sites - Answers in Genesis Outreach Conferences are at ferences/ - The Creation Museum, has daily events. - Worldview Weekend Rallies are continually scheduled all over the USA. See for details. - (CRSEF) is in the Cincinnati Ohio area at sp. CRSEF presentations are given at a public library or a local church on the Third Thursday of each month. Locations may vary, but will be listed with the events. All their presentations are planned to run from 7:00-7:45 PM followed by a 15 minute, or longer, Q&A time. Some presentations have technical content, but they try to supply descriptive information to appeal to ages 12 and above! Note Asterisk (*) Indicates regular ARK meeting at ARKY s House, 2002 S Smithville Rd, Dayton, OH. One mile South of US 35, just past Wayne Ave. Park on side. Ph: (937) 256-ARKY. The ARK monthly meeting is every 2nd Monday of the month. The ARK bookstore is open 30 minutes before and after the meeting. Membership NOT required to attend meetings! - Get the latest "CURRENT EVENTS" on the web at

9 Financial Statement 2015 General Fund Balance 1/1/15 $6, Receipts Memberships/Newsletters Donations 3.00 Speaker Gifts 0.00 Projects 0.00 Special Events /Banquet 0.00 Equipment Sold 5.40 Kroger Gift Cards/Promotion Reimbursed Misc 5.00 Non-Tax Sales 1, Taxable Sales 7, Sales tax collected Loan Proceeds 0.00 Total 16, Disbursements Newsletter/CC Projects Office Telephone Children s Ministry 0.00 Exhibiting 1, Web Inventory 6, Equipment Supplies Insurance 1, Professional Fees Sales Tax Paid Speaking/Events 0.00 Misc Tithes&Gifts 0.00 Reimbursed 0.00 Total 12, Balance 8/31/15 4, Building Fund Balance 1/1/15-4, Matching Mortgage Fund 5, Donations 3, Total 23, Expenses Mortgage Building Utilities 1, Real Estate Taxes 0.00 Matching Fund 3, Repairs 0.00 Total Bld. Expenses 5, Balance 8/31/ Net Balance, Both Funds 4, ARK Supporter Benefits 1. 30% discount: minimum on all purchases; 2. Quarterly newsletter: ARK members receive news and expansion plans; 3. National support: 10% of supporters general donations is given to Answers in Genesis, our voluntary support for a national Biblical creation science organization; 4. Webpage: provides logical, Biblical information to a world saturated with an unbiblical, ill-suited naturalism for the needs of people; 5. Monthly ARK meetings: interesting speakers or DVD program on a variety of subjects, p r o v i d e d F R E E t o t h e community; 6. Major speaker programs: sponsored into the area or promoted by ARK; 7. Local ARK speakers: available for community and church events; 8. E n cou ragement a nd Answers: for belief in the Biblical Creator; 9. Leadership training: periodically opportunity to learn how to serve in your church or school or study group; 10. Public materials: make available Creation resources books, audios, and DVDs to public; 11. Lending library: by mail or at ARKY house for supporters; 12. Bookstore available: during r e g u l a r h o u r s a n d b y appointment; 13. Bookstore honors specials: when offered by AiG, ICR, and WallBuilder if items are in stock. Is it time for you to renew? Please check the date above your name and address. If the date has past or coming up soon, please renew today. Be an ARK Supporter! PAGE 9 Name: Addr: City, ST ZIP: Ph: ( ) - Work: - Church: City/Zip: Membership Amount : $ Gift Amount : $ Total Enclosed: $ Building Pledge: $ per Membership: One Spousal Family ARK individual membership is only $25/year ($30 couple, $40 family). To receive this newsletter quarterly for free, please complete the address form and put "Jesus" in amount. (Please include mailing label, if you are renewing.) ARKY's Bookstore Bookstore hours manned by volunteers are: Tuesday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm; Thursday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm; Saturday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm; OTHER TIMES BY APPOINTMENT S Smithville Rd

10 PO Box 20069, Dayton, OH Ph: (937) 256-ARKY Lord, You alone are Truth. Help us pass it on. Your best advertizement is your truth tellers. PASS ON NEWSLETTER Web: RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Please Renew Your Subscription Early and save us added expenses! Bible Humor A father is in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter. As was customary, he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service. During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a tiny infant. The little five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked: "Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby?" Terri asked her Sunday School class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Kyle's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent. "The flight to Egypt," said Kyle. "I see... And that must be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus," Ms. Terri said. "But who's the fourth person?" "Oh, that's Pontius -- the Pilot!" Little Johnny was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in kindergarten. His grandmother decided to take him to the park on Saturday morning. It had been snowing all night and everything was beautiful. His grandmother remarked..."doesn't it look like an artist painted this scenery? Did you know God painted this just for you?" Johnny said, "Yes, God did it and he did it left handed." This confused his grandmother a bit, and she asked him "What makes you say God did this with his left hand?" "Well," said Johnny, "we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus sits on God's right hand so he HAD to use his left hand!" (from biblehumor.html)