The Human Genome: ENCODED by DesignFazale "Fuz" Rana. Ph.D. (Chemistry) gave a presentation titled, "The Human Genome: ENCODED by Design." Many people think that the most compelling evidence for human evolution is the shared junk DNA sequences found in corresponding regions of the genomes of humans and the Great Apes. Why would a Creator introduce identical nonfunctional DNA sequences in these genomes? On the other hand, if these genomes represent the outworking of an evolutionary history, then the shared features evince common descent. But what if these junk DNA sequences are actually functional? They could be understood as evidence for common design. Remarkably over the course of the last decade, biologists have come to learn that virtually every class of junk DNA has function, culminating with the publication of the Phase 2 results of the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project in 2011. These results indicated that minimally 80 percent of the human genome consists of functional elements. Subsequent work indicates that this percentage will only increase. The ENCODE project has radically changed the way we view the human genome. Instead of representing a collage of evolutionary vestiges, it appears to be an elegantly designed system. Attendees learned how ENCODE has turned one of the greatest challenges to the Christian faith into one of the most compelling reasons to believe. About our speaker: Dr. Rana is vice president of research and apologetics at Reasons to Believe. Fuz earned a BS in chemistry at West Virginia State University and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry at Ohio University. He pursued postdoctoral studies in the biophysics of cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia, has coauthored numerous papers for peer-reviewed journals, and holds two patents. Fuz converted to Christianity during graduate school. Though he initially embraced the evolutionary paradigm, Fuz eventually drew the conclusion that only a Creator’s involvement could explain the elegance of biochemical systems. Today, Fuz writes and speaks extensively about evidence for creation emerging from biochemistry, genetics, human origins, and synthetic biology. He is the author of multiple books, including Dinosaur Blood and the Age of the Earth and The Cell’s Design.
0 Comments
'BIOMIMETICS' - MEANS GOD INVENTED IT Thomas Kindell, M.A. (Biblical Studies), D.Ph.Th., gave a presentation titled, "'BIOMIMETICS' - MEANS GOD INVENTED IT FIRST." About our speaker: Dr. Thomas Kindell was once an ardent believer in the “fact” of evolution. However, through his exposure to the scientific case for creation, he became a zealous creationist. He received advanced training in scientific creationism through the Graduate School of the Institute for Creation Research, then in Santee, California. He has been privileged to study under several of the world's most prominent creationist scientists. He also has studied Christian Apologetics and Biblical-Scientific Creationism at California Graduate School of Theology where he received his M.A. in Biblical Studies. He holds a Doctorate in Philosophy of Theology (major in philosophy of Biblical apologetics.)Dr. Kindell is the founder and president of Reasons for Faith Ministries, Inc., a non-profit ministry dedicated to equipping Christian believers to “give every man an answer” for their Biblical faith. For over 30 years he has engaged in a traveling teaching ministry lecturing on Biblical apologetics and the scientific case for creation. He is an ordained Calvary Chapel pastor devoted to full-time teaching of Creation-Science apologetics. Dr. Kindell has successfully debated the scientific case for creation against notable evolutionists on high school and college campuses, radio, and television. He is a frequent guest on the radio series “Science, Scripture & Salvation” which is produced by the Institute for Creation Research. He is the author of the acclaimed book, “Evolution on Trial.” He is a member of the Oregon Design Science Association and is a lifetime sustaining member of the Creation Research Society. Dr. Kindell’s creation‑science seminar has been repeatedly acclaimed as one of the very best in the nation and was enthusiastically endorsed by the late Dr. Duane T. Gish, Senior Vice‑President Emeritus of the Institute for Creation Research. Dr. Kindell is available full-time on a free will offering basis for speaking engagements throughout the United States and abroad.Program to be determined. GREAT CREATURES TALL & SMALL: Veterinarian Dr. Gay Zambrano and husband, Dan Zambrano gave a presentation titled, "GREAT CREATURES TALL & SMALL: A VETERINARY PERSPECTIVE ON CREATION AND STEWARDSHIP." About our speakers: Dr. Gay Zambrona is a 1991 graduate of the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine. She fulfilled an externship at the London Zoo. Practicing full-time small animal and exotics medicine in the Long Beach/West Orange County area since 1991. Part-time clinical and consulting positions in laboratory animal medicine for 15 years. Husband Dan Zambrano has a B.S. in Marine Biology from Cal State Long Beach. He is a Licensed Registered Veterinary Technician. He has worked at Cabrillo Aquarium, the Los Angeles Harbor Dept., California State Fish & Game Dept., and the L.A. Zoo before partnering in the mobile veterinary practice with his wife. Both Dan and Gay are Ordained Pastors in the Free Methodist Church. They love teaching and preaching the Word of God to people of ALL AGES. They have worked with students from 4th & 5 th graders, through High School, College, and beyond! To view this presentation, click here. https://www.facebook.com/gwollenhauptzambrano/videos/10215039342488399/?t=8 We watched two movies, "INJECTING ALUMINUM" (90 minutes), and the Moody Institute of Science Classic, "FACTS OF FAITH," (28 minutes).
SCIENCE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IF THE BIBLE IS Chuck Kinzie, B.A. (Philosophy), gave a presentation titled, "SCIENCE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IF THE BIBLE IS TRUE." Chuck's presentation was based on the Transendental Argument for the existence of God (TAG) presuppositional apologetic articulated by Drs. Cornelius van Til and Greg Bahnsen. The argument points out that only the biblical Christian worldview accounts for the preconditions that allow us to make sense of the world around us. While other worldviews marshal the laws of nature, the laws of logic, and the laws of morality to support their positions, they cannot account for the existence of such non-material, universal, invariant entities, and therefore cannot justify their own arguments. Only the God of the Bible, whose fear is the beginning of wisdom, accounts for the intelligibility of the universe, and for the abilities of humans to engage the clues and thought algorithms that give us science and rationality. As TAG concludes, the ultimate proof that God exists is that without Him, one cannot prove anything. About our speaker: Chuck taught Philosophy at Golden West College and at Coastline Community College for eight years, and tutors students in logic. Speaking of logic, the United States Chess Federation rates Chuck as a chess EXPERT. Born again in 1988, Chuck publicly proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ in open-air venues, primarily in Orange County. We watched two movies, LESSON 1, SCIENCE TESTIFIES TO CREATION, of Bruce Malone's THE STONES CRY OUT 12-lesson dvd series, and DUST OR DESTINY, a Moody Institute of Science classic.
SPECIAL EVENT: Creation/Intelligent Design-themed whale watch with Captain Dave's Dolphins and Whales at Dana Point. A great time with Lad Alan, of Illustra Media and David Coppedge of Creation Safaris. We saw lots of dolphins, including members of a community that has recently acquired a new learned behavior, rolling over on their backs while feeding on schools of fish. Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures which can be trained by humans to perform tricks. Interestingly, they appear to also be capable of innovation, and of passing ideas, such as this new style of feeding, on to fellow dolphins. This is an example of animal culture. Unfortunately, too few of us signed up for this special cruise, so we didn't get the large boat with underwater viewing pods. None-the-less, a good time, and good fellowship, was enjoyed by all. Earthquakes and Famines in Early Roman Steve Austin, Ph.d., Geology, spoke on, "Earthquakes and Famines in Early Roman History: Evidence from Microfacies Analysis of Laminated Mud of the Dead Sea, Israel." The Nahal Ze’elim fan delta is situated east of the Masada fault at the southwest corner of the north basin of the Dead Sea. It is one of the Dead Sea’s largest fan deltas, where, at a depth of just over 3 m, laminated lake mud from the Early Roman Period occurs. Several gully exposures allowed us to identify three facies associated with the Early Roman Period. Earthquakes produced turbulent mixing forming seismites within laminated sand and silt. Earthquakes often produced coherently folded seismites within higher-viscosity, laminated, detrital clays in the distal fan delta and delta slope. During times of drought, when detritus was completely cut off from the fan delta, calcium ions from groundwater precipitated as a calcium carbonate mineral called aragonite on the lake floor. Multi-year droughts built up stacked white aragonite laminae with only slight traces of intervening wind-blown dust. Early Roman historians record famines from 67 to 62 BC (Onias event described by Josephus), 25 to 23 BC (King Herod’s famine described by Josephus), and 41 to 43 AD (Emperor Claudius’ famine described by Luke in Acts 11:27-30). The Jericho Earthquake of 31 BC (M~7.2) is the largest in the Dead Sea region during the last 2,700 years and is recounted by both Josephus and King Herod. The Jerusalem Earthquake of 33 AD (M~5.5) occurred at the crucifixion of Christ (Matthew 27:51). Regularities within laminae are evident. For example, varve counting suggests Herod's famine prevailed the seventh summer after the Jericho Earthquake. Mud recording these three Roman famines and these two Roman earthquakes comprises an extraordinarily distinctive, 109-year sequence. Furthermore, these laminae appear to be persistent across Nahal Ze'elim fan delta. About our speaker: Steve Austin has a B.S. from the University of Washington, an M.S. from San Jose State University and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, all in geology. He successfully defended a Ph.D. thesis which proposed an unconventional theory for the origin of coal. Shortly thereafter, Mount Saint Helens exploded, blasting an an entire forest of broken trees into Spirit Lake and providing a laboratory demonstration of Steve's theory at work! Steve was a contributing member of the research programs, which proposed and popularized the theories of Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT), and Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (RATE). Steve's professional memberships include the Geological Society of America, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society for Sedimentary Geology, the International Association of Sedimentologists. He has had professional, peer-reviewed projects at Mt. St. Helens and within the Grand Canyon. He has done extensive research on a mass kill of nautiloids within the Redwall limestone of the Grand Canyon, radioisotopes of Grand Canyon rocks, and earthquake destruction of archaeological sites in the Kingdom of Jordan. Current research is on biblical earthquakes recorded as seismites in Dead Sea sediments. Dr. Austin has published research in the prestigious, peer-reviewed journal International Geology Review. NOTE: Because this presentation involved current research undergoing peer review, the presentation was not streamed live and will not be publicly distributed. Bruce Malone, B.S. Chemical Engineering, Executive Director of Search for the Truth Ministries, gave a presentation titled, "BRILLIANT: MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD." Early man is routinely portrayed as a knuckle-dragging, wife-beating, dimwitted ignoramus because it is assumed that he evolved from some sort of ape-like ancestor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This talk looked at artifacts from ancient cultures to explain how historical mysteries of the past confirm key biblical events such as the creation of mankind, the fall of creation, the worldwide flood, and the dispersion from Babel. Bruce ended with a presentation of how the evidence for Biblical creation is changing the future of the entire nation of Fiji as every public school student is receiving a book tying Biblical creation to science and history. About our speaker: Bruce has 27 years of research experience with the Dow Chemical Corporation but left in 2008 to act as full time Executive Director of Search for the Truth Ministries with the vision of “Awakening Hearts and Minds to Biblical Truth”. This organization widely distributes Bible-affirming creation materials to students and prisoners – giving away an average of 8000 books per year. Bruce has a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and holds 17 patents for new products with Dow Chemical. Bruce Malone has spent the last 30 years bringing the scientific evidence for creation to churches and colleges at seminars throughout the United States and 12 foreign countries. He has also authored six books on the evidence for creation with over 500,000 copies in print; served as adjunct speaker for the Institute for Creation Research; is an associate speaker for Logos Research Associates Inc.; and is a commissioned worldview speaker under Chuck Colson’s Centurion program - bringing a recent Biblical creation understanding to worldview issues. Bruce and his wife Robin have been married for 32 years and have four grown children and four grandchildren. They reside in Midland, Michigan. |
Categories |