I continue to work my way through Jonathan Sarfati’s book on creation (see picture below). I am on page 234 and read the following quotes there. I still have over 400 pages to go but I’m in no hurry. Almost everyone is aware, due to widely publicized modern media, how mind-bogglingly complex even the simplest of cells are. These quotes go beyond that, and Mr. Sarfati entitles this short section in his book:
“ATHIEST CONUNDRUM.” -cr
“The origin of the cell’s information, and its decoding machinery, is thus a huge problem for atheists. Astrophysicist and evolutionist Paul Davies (b. 1946) says:
‘We now know that the secret of life lies not with the chemical ingredients as such, but with the logical structure and organisational arrangement of the molecules. … Like a supercomputer, life is an information processing system. … It is the software of the living cell that is the real mystery, not the hardware.’
But he does nothing to solve this mystery. Instead he asks, ‘How did stupid atoms spontaneously write their own software?’ , and answers, ‘Nobody knows…’ and admits: ‘There is no known law of physics able to create information from nothing.’
However, this makes good sense if the information came from a Master Programmer, as revealed in the Bible.”
It was a cloudy day today but this picture still gives you an idea of this year’s tomato structure. It was made specifically for growing tomatoes. The structure is supported by four 10 foot fencing posts driven deep enough that there should be no stability issues. The rest is mainly bamboo that I’ve dried from a stand of bamboo that I’ve been trying to get rid of for years now. Each plant is in a 10 to 20 gallon grow pot (made of fabric) and filled with potting soil. The reason for the fencing is that I have a semi-lame cat named Daniel (after Lieutenant Dan) who thinks the grow pots are his and he loves to lay on them. The fencing is high enough that he will not try climbing over. The other cat that we belong to could easily make it over but she isn’t interested. I have left a few of the half-filled pots specifically for Daniel in his favorite places.
On this day there is no sun because we had a good rain last night and more is on the way. I am always thankful to the good Lord for rain. There is a larger garden area on the property but because of Oak trees, some pine trees, and a nice hickory tree that I refuse to cut down, the area designed for a garden gets little sun. So, this is my effort in a sunny area. This area did pretty well last year. I know the plants are too close together but I’ve packed them closer together before so I continue to experiment. Every year this thing looks a bit different. It is larger this year as each year I’ve continued to add more pots. I’m behind the professional growers because I start my plants from seed and am in no hurry as we have such a long growing season. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you might be able to see the little yellow flowers where a few tomatoes are already forming. I have several varieties in this small area so I know I might get some cross pollination but that only makes things more interesting. In this space there are Beefsteak tomatoes, Betterboy tomatoes, Cosmonaut Volkov tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and a few Sun Gold cherry tomato plants.
To keep the foliage and disease down, I pinch out the suckers of the plant varieties that are indeterminate. The Romas (determinates) are the only ones I don’t bother doing that with. This keeps things under control as the season continues. Each plant will only have one main stem growing up each piece of bamboo. To keep certain bugs away, each pot contains one or more marigold plants. Some say they also keep snakes away. By the end of the season, I should have marigolds in many places. They are so easy to grow and transplant.
I do use a touch of miracle grow when the seedlings are developing and I make sure to use a pinch of lime in my growing media. By the time the plants are the size of the ones in this picture, I use only organic fertilizers and the pest control is all safe for humans. I spray the plants a few times a year with a BT/Cal-Mag/Kelp combo spray that I mix that is over 95% water. That keeps the hornworms down some. I do end up having to remove some hornworms by hand every year.
And that’s this year’s attempt. I’ll probably write two more posts on this thing during the growing season. I’m curious to see how it does and you might be too.
The garden is coming along. The biggest surprise in the past year has been my introduction of Jerusalem artichokes to the few things I attempt to grow. They are also called sunchokes. They are knobby, edible tubers from a type of sunflower. They are not related to artichokes nor are they from Jerusalem.
I left the picture enlarged so that you can see the nice foliage on the plant. Because they are a species of sunflower they eventually put out long stems with small yellow flowers at the ends.
I only grow things that are easy to grow. Jerusalem artichokes have fit that description perfectly. The tubers from the plant can be eaten raw, cooked, or pickled. I have no problem eating a raw one that’s been cleaned. My wife bakes them after cutting them into slices. She sprays them with olive oil cooking spray and then she is pretty generous with the salt and garlic powder. Her last batch was delicious. If you like a bit of a kick you can add pepper. The pepper is too much for me.
I am not a great gardener but these plants have been very productive for me. There is only one drawback. It’s the wind that they may produce. That’s right, flatulence or flatus may be a result of eating them. Between my wife and I, I am the one that has windy results. So, if you are raising boys, particularly those in their teens, proceed with caution.
If you are looking for something easy to grow that is quite productive. you may want to give Jerusalem artichokes a try.
Butterflies symbolize transformation, metamorphosis, and spiritual rebirth. If I didn’t know that, I still would have always liked butterflies. Butterflies are a wonder of God’s creation. -cr
Being painfully aware that this blog lacks actual color of late, I have decided to share an occasional picture from my garden this year. As God will be responsible for any picture I take, I must give Him attribution. I’m just holding a phone sorta steady and clicking on an icon. Some of you may have wondered where so many of the pictures that once graced the scribbling here went. I decided to ditch many of them because they hadn’t the proper attribution. In any case, I know all the places where one can get free pictures for a blog post if I want one but many of my recent posts are more about colorful words than pictures.
This grouping of flowers reminded me of these verses from my favorite sermon:
27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”
By the way, the only contribution I made to what is in the picture was the dividing of crocus roots last year.
I know these colors will clash with my header, but I hope it’s not too unbearable. (Maybe it’s time for the old header to go!)
Once again, I’m publishing the best video of 2024 that I could find regarding Origin of Life research. And once again, the well known chemist, Dr. James Tour is it’s creator. I’ve watched the entire thing twice now and appreciate all of it but if you want to cut it short a bit start at 22:00 minutes.
I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. 6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
As the Spring of 2024 continues, I am surrounded by constant reminders of the glory of God: the budding flowers, the busy bees, the gentle rain, and the list goes on and on. To our God alone, the One David praised in this Psalm, does all the glory and honor belong. His kingdom is everlasting and He is righteous in all of His ways.
In a world that is becoming increasingly Godless, I can’t help and thank God for all of the many blessings I have. There are several places in scripture that mention that “the earth is wearing out like a garment.” Psalm 102 states:
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
In Isaiah, 15 we are reminded that even though the earth will wear out God’s salvation will last forever:
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
And yet, while this earth that the Lord created remains, we will continue to see His glory in His creation. May our Lord bless you and your family in the Spring of 2024.
A Google morning headline struck me today: “Scientists Solve an Origin of Life Mystery.” Maybe this article would help me understand what began the process of my creation. Unfortunately, the subtitle made it obvious that the main headline was misleading. It read:
“Seawater might have supplied the phosphorus required for emerging life.”
Hmm…the main headline seemed definite, whereas the subtitle used the word “might.”
And then there was the first sentence of the article:
“Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Cape Town may have found a solution to the mystery of how phosphorus came to be an essential component of life on Earth by recreating prehistoric seawater containing the element in a laboratory.”
Hmm…”may” have found a solution? So, the main headline should probably read:
“Scientists May have Solved an Origin of Life Mystery“
A title like that would not have gotten my attention so much. I hope this article stays up for a long time so that this post doesn’t become obsolete. You may want to check it now to see that I am not pulling your leg. Actually, it doesn’t matter that much since articles like this happen all the time.
As I’ve been looking for a good reason to share a recent lecture with my readers, I now have a good place to put it. Anyone who is familiar with Dr. James Tour knows how great a scientist he is. This lecture was given at Rice University.
Dr. Tour works in relative obscurity compared to so many headlines like the one above. A guy calling himself “Professor Dave” has 10 times the hits on a YouTube video on this same subject. Professor Dave has nowhere near the knowledge of Dr. Tour and they disagree greatly.
The book of John begins with words that I believe:
1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.”
I will continue to watch for headlines like this and once a year comment on at least one of them.
Born Again
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Elizabeth is a writer of Evangelical Christian books based in Ireland. Her books are currently published under “Ready Writer Publications.” Her blog is a testimony to her Christian faith and always an enjoyable read.
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Tom has a loving heart for Catholics and his blog is an attempt to help those in Catholic churches understand that we are saved by grace alone. He blogs on a variety of topics.
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Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. Luke 11:35
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Slimjim’s “about” states: “(Jim Lee) is a pastor. He is a faithful servant of the church and his Saviour. Although young in age he is trying to be an apologist for the faith. “
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A blog to help Christians in Australia connect the dots…(it’s helped me here in the “good” ole U.S.A.)
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Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
Annie Herring and Dallas Holm
September 16, 2026It has been a long time since I’ve seen anything from Anne Herring and Dallas Holm. I think you’ll really enjoy this video.
They are both laughing at the beginning and then they begin to rehash some amazing history.
Both of these artists were there at the start of what was called “Contemporary Christian Music”.
I remember those days well. Take a listen and please give me your feedback.
Here they are…(Drum roll please!)….Annie Herring and Dallas Holm!!!
(Please, don’t expect a concert!) 🙂
God’s blessings…
CR
(Please leave as many comments as you want, but I probably won’t get to them until after my surgery on Friday.)
(I’ll get to them as soon as I possibly can. 😊)
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