Precious Stones and Birds – Introduction

Sapphire Flycatcher (Ficedula sapphira) ©WikiC

I am currently attending a Bible study class on Heaven. It is very interesting, and of course, when the mention of the various precious stones, with their beautiful colors came up, birds fluttered to mind. I have been accused of having a “bird brain.” [Always thinking about things in relation to birds.]

A huge question came to mind. Wonder if I could find birds whose names or colors closely reflected the names of those stones? Sounds like a simple idea. Right? Not so fast, as I am finding out.

See – Heaven’s New Jerusalem and Birds – Introduction

Interesting Things – Dragonfly

Thinking

Here is an interesting video fromYouTube.com – Exploration Films about the Dragonflies. It is very interesting.

Dragonfly by Phil Kwong

Dragonfly by Phil Kwong

Learning from the Dragonfly by Creation Moments

“Scientists studying the dragonfly are learning even more secrets of flight. Our best high-performance aircraft can barely lift themselves off the ground. However, the dragonfly can lift 15 times his own weight into the air.”

The Amazing Mosquito Hawk by Creation Moments

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
(Job 12:7-9 KJV)

More articles from Creation Moments:

100 Foot Ferns “dragonflies had wingspans of six feet”

The Pre-Flood Atmosphere “dragonflies were the size of hawks”

From Creation Ministries International:

“Dragonflies

Dragonflies are probably the most beautiful of the flying insects. There are about 4,500 different varieties. They begin their life in water, where eggs hatch into rather ugly brown nymphs. The time spent living in water varies from a few weeks to several years, but for all the varieties the day comes when the nymph suddenly has the urge to climb out of the water. It sits for a while at the top of a piece of grass until its skin splits open and out comes a dragonfly! After waiting for its wings to become firm and dry, the dragonfly flies away, its lovely colours glinting in the sunshine.

Although they are very small, dragonflies are wonderfully designed for flying. Their two pairs of wings are very light, but strengthened by a network of tiny veins, which not only carry blood fluid to keep the wings stiff, but also nerves and oxygen. Some dragonflies beat their wings 40 times in one second! Dragonflies are like tiny helicopters—they can even fly backwards! In fact, Igor Sikorsky, who first designed helicopters, for the idea from watching dragonflies.

Dragonfly by QuyTran

Dragonfly by QuyTran

Another wonderful thing about dragonflies is their eyes. Each pair of eyes is actually made up of as many as 30,000 separate eyes, each with its own lens! This enables the insect to see what is happening over a wide area, and spot every tiny movement without moving its head.

The supposedly oldest fossil dragonflies are just like dragonflies are now, except that they were much larger—75 centimeters (2.5 feet) from wing-tip to wing-tip! So there is no evidence that they evolved from ancestors without wings. And surely those amazing eyes did not evolve? Dragonflies are another of the many wonders of God’s creation!” From Our World (Answers for Kids.)

Astonishing acrobatics – dragonflies – by Johathan Sarfati

(Updated 4/29/09)

Dragonflies and fighter pilots – what can we learn? by Ken Ham

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Originally posted in 2009 – this is a duplicate.

More Interesting Things:

Interesting Things – Dragonflies II

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Interesting Things – The Amazing Camel and It’s Creator

What an amazing animal! God did some very special engineering from the git-go! None of this “grocery store” new and improved nonsense. He got it entirely right the first time.

The Amazing Camel and It’s Creator

(From Moody Press)

If you ever doubted that God exists, Meet the Very Technical, Highly Engineered Dromedary Camel.

When I’m hungry, I’ll eat almost anything-A leather bridle, a piece of rope, my master’s tent, Or a pair of shoes.

My mouth is so tough a thorny cactus doesn’t bother it. I love to chow down grass and other plants That grow here on the Arabian desert.

I’m a dromedary camel, the one-hump kind That lives on hot deserts in the Middle East.

My hump, all eighty pounds of it, Is filled with fat-my body fuel-not water as some people believe. My Mighty Maker gave it to me because He knew I wouldn’t always be able to find food As I travel across the hot sands. When I don’t find any chow, my body automatically Takes fat from the hump, feeds my system, And keeps me going strong. This is my emergency food supply.

If I can’t find any plants to munch, my body uses up my hump. When the hump gets smaller, it starts to tip to one side. But when I get to a nice oasis and begin to eat again, My hump soon builds back to normal.

I’ve been known to drink twenty-seven gallons of water in ten minutes. My Master Designer made me in such a fantastic way that In a matter of minutes all the water I’ve swallowed Travels to the billions of microscopic cells that make up my flesh.

Naturally, the water I swallow first goes into my stomach. There thirsty blood vessels absorb and carry it to every part of my body. Scientists have tested my stomach and found it empty Ten minutes after I’ve drunk twenty gallons.

In an eight hour day I can carry a four hundred pound load A hundred miles across a hot, dry desert And not stop once for a drink or something to eat. In fact, I’ve been known to go eight days without a drink, But then I look a wreck. I lose 227 pounds, my ribs show through my skin, And I look terribly skinny. But I feel great! I look thin because the billions of cells lose their water. They’re no longer fat. They’re flat.

Normally my blood contains 94 percent water, just like yours. But when I can’t find any water to drink, The heat of the sun gradually robs a little water out of my blood. Scientists have found that my blood can lose up to 40 percent of its water, and I’m still healthy.

Doctor’s say human blood has to stay very close to 94 percent water. If you lose 5 percent of it, you can’t see anymore; 10 percent, you can’t Hear and you go insane; 12 percent, your blood is as thick as molasses And your heart can’t pump the thick stuff. It stops, and you’re dead.

But that’s not true with me. Why? Scientists say my blood is different. My red cells are elongated. Yours are round. Maybe that’s what makes the difference.

This proves I’m designed for the desert, Or the desert is designed for me. Did you ever hear of a design without a Designer?

After I find a water hole, I’ll drink for about ten minutes And my skinny body starts to change almost immediately. In that short time my body fills out nicely, I don’t look skinny anymore, And I gain back the 227 pounds I lost.

Even though I lose a lot of water on the desert, My body conserves it too. Way in the beginning when my intelligent Engineer made me, He gave me a specially designed nose that saves water. When I exhale, I don’t lose much. My nose traps that warm, moist air from my lungs And absorbs it in my nasal membranes.

Tiny blood vessels in those membranes take that back into my blood. How’s that for a recycling system? Pretty cool, isn’t it. It works because my nose is cool. My cool nose changes that warm moisture in the air From my lungs into water.

But how does my nose get cool? I breath in hot dry desert air, And it goes through my wet nasal passages. This produces a cooling effect, and my nose stays as much as 18 degrees cooler than the rest of my body.

I love to travel the beautiful sand dunes. It’s really quite easy, because My Creator gave me specially engineered sand shoes for feet. My hooves are wide, and they get even wider when I step on them. Each foot has two long, bony toes with tough, leathery skin between my soles, are a little like webbed feet.

They won’t let me sink into the soft, drifting sand. This is good, because often my master wants me to carry him one hundred miles across the desert in just one day. (I troop about ten miles per hour.)

Sometimes a big windstorm comes out of nowhere, bringing flying sand with it. My Master Designer put special muscles in my nostrils that close the openings, keeping sand out of my nose but still allowing me enough air to breathe.

My eyelashes arch down over my eyes like screens, keeping the sand and sun out but still letting me see clearly. If a grain of sand slips through and gets in my eye, the Creator took care of that too. He gave me an inner eyelid that automatically wipes the sand off my eyeball just like a windshield wiper.

Some people think I’m conceited because I always walk around with my head held high and my nose in the air.

But that’s just because of the way I’m made. My eyebrows are so thick and bushy I have to hold my head high to peek out from underneath them. I’m glad I have them though. They shade my eyes from the bright sun.

Desert people depend on me for many things. Not only am I their best form of transportation, but I’m also their grocery store. Mrs. Camel gives very rich milk that people make into butter and cheese. I shed my thick fur coat once a year, and that can be woven into cloth. A few young camels are used for beef, but I don’t like to talk about that.

For a long time we camels have been called the “ships of the desert” because of the way we sway from side to side when we trot. Some of our riders get seasick.

I sway from side to side because of the way my legs work. Both legs on one side move forward at the same time, elevating that side. My “left, right left, right” motion makes my rider feel like he is in a rocking chair going sideways.

When I was six months old, special knee pads started to grow on my front legs. The intelligent Creator knew I had to have them. They help me lower my 1000 pounds to the ground.

If I didn’t have them, my knees would soon become sore and infected, and I could never lie down. I’d die of exhaustion.

By the way, I don’t get thick knee pads because I fall on my knees. I fall on my knees because I already have these tough pads. Someone very great thought of me and knew I needed them. He designed them into my genes.

It’s real difficult for me to understand how some people say I evolved into what I now am. I’m very technical, highly engineered dromedary camel. Things like me don’t just happen.

They’re planned on a drawing board by Someone very brilliant, Someone very logical.

John 1:1 says,
“In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”
The Word means “logical, intelligent One.”

(Received in an e-Mail, but found it on the Lakeside Church of Christ website. Not sure who to give the credit to. Could not find it on the Moody site. We do know the ultimate credit goes to – The Creator.)