Did you know (4).....

To The Saints !!!!!

Centuries ago guys like Johannes Kepler (17th Century) and William Herschel(18th Century) thought that the moon supported life. Kepler even wrote a book about the moon people in which he fantasized about how their lives might be.
As scientific knowledge grew, dreams of finding lunar civilizations dissipated. Everyone came to agree that the moon cannot support life. Yet surprising discoveries in recent years have shown the opposite to be true: the moon really does support life - ours! Scientific evidence confirms how this parched, airless satellite actually contributes in unexpected ways to creating a lush and stable environment a quarter of a million miles away on Earth.
A discovery recently made in 1993 found that the moon actually stabilizes the tilt of the Earth's axis. The tilt is responsible for our seasons. During summer, in the northern hemisphere the north pole axis is pointed towards the sun. Six months later, when the Earth is on the other side of the sun, then the south pole is more pointed towards the sun. With the Earth's tilt at 23.5 degrees, this gives us very mild seasons. So in a very real way, the stability of our climate is attributable to the moon.
If the moon was not there then the tilt of the Earth's axis could swing wildly over a large range, resulting in major temperature swings. If our tilt were more like ninety degrees, the north pole would be exposed to the sun for six months while the south pole would be in darkness and vice versa. Instead , it [our tilt] varies by only about one and a half degrees - just a tiny variation, because the gravity from the moon's orbit keeps it stabilized.
The moon's large size compared to its host planet is unique in the inner solar system. Mercury and Venus have no moons. Mars has two tiny moons - probably captured asteroids - and they don't do anything to stabilize the axis of Mars. In fact, all three of these planets have chaotic variations in their tilt.
The moon also helps in another crucial way, which is to increase our tides. The moon contributes sixty percent to the tides; the sun accounts for the other forty percent. Tides serve an important role by flushing out nutrients from the continents to the oceans, which keeps them more nutrient-rich than they otherwise would be. Scientists discovered just a few years ago that the lunar tides also help to keep large-scale ocean circulation going. That's important because the oceans carry a lot of heat, which is necessary to keep the temperature of the higher latitudes relatively mild.
If the moon was larger and still in the same place, the tides would be way too strong which would create serious difficulties. The tides slow down the Earth a little and at the same time the moon moves out in its orbit. If the moon were bigger, it would slow down the Earth much more. That would be a problem because if the days became too long, then you could have major temperature differences between day and night.
Isn't it amazing that the moon "just happens" to be the right size and in the right place to help create a habitable environment for Earth. Do we really know what a BIG GOD we serve?

Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose? (Sir John Templeton)

Info taken from The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel (2004)

I have felt the wind blow
Whispering Your name
I have seen Your tears fall
When I watch the rain

How could I say there is no God
When all around creation calls
A singing bird a mighty tree
The vast expanse of open sea

Gazing at a bird in flight
Soaring through the air
Lying down beneath the stars
I feel Your presence there

I love to stand at ocean's shore
And feel the thundering breakers roar
To walk through golden fields of grain
'Neath endless blue horizon's frame

Listening to a river run
Watering the earth
Fragrance of a rose in bloom
A newborn's cry at birth

I believe
I believe
I believe
(Creation Calls by Brian Doerksen)

LoCTY!!!!