Birds of the Bible - Foundation #5 (by Lee Dusing)

The birds are now out of the Ark and on their way to becoming all the species we see today. (See Birds of the Bible - Foundation #4 for the links to the others) It would be great to know exactly which bird kinds and critter kinds came off the Ark. We know for certain that 2 kinds of birds were on board. The raven and the dove are both mentioned. (Gen 1:21, "every winged bird according to its kind") According to Birds of the World, 8th edition, there are 233 families of birds. Also Bird Families of the World from Cornell. There are studies going on by creationists who are trying to find out what the original kinds were. It is called Baraminology and comes from "bara" which means "created" and "min" which means "kind". That is "baramin" and the study of it is Baraminology. I have listed some interesting articles at the end about this topic.

We have no problem with the birds interbreeding within their kind or as some call it "natural selection." But the problem comes in with statements like this from a UCBerkeleyNews - Press Release, "Dinosaurs developed feathers some 65 to 100 million years ago and became birds, with the ostriches and emus among the first to evolve, and the ducks and chickens next. That much we know, says University of California, Berkeley, ornithologist Rauri Bowie. But when it comes to the rest of bird evolution, he adds, "nobody had any idea"- until now." I contend they still don't know, because they have rejected the Creator who says He created them.

We all have the same evidence of fossils and living birds, but the difference comes with what worldview you start with. What they are finding is very interesting because of studies with the DNA of birds. The study was by The Field Museum of Chicago, which gathered "DNA from 169 species of birds representing nearly all of the world's non-songbird families." Because of these studies, it:

• "shifts the relationships among today's birds in surprising ways."
• "For example, parrots and songbirds turn out to be each other's closest relatives, while falcons are only distant cousins of the other birds of prey, the hawks and eagles."
• "New world vultures like the turkey vulture are no longer classified with the storks, but rather, return to their more traditional placement with the hawks and eagles."
• And hummingbirds and swifts, long known to be closely related, are in the same group as the elusive nightjars and the whip-poor-will."
• "The new relationships often make a lot of sense....For example, hummingbirds, swifts and nightjars all go into torpor at night or during cold weather. It thus makes sense that they are related, rather than having evolved this trait independently."

• "Similarly, many songbirds... learn songs from their parents, just like many parrots, which are now revealed to be songbirds' closest relatives."
• "although falcons look superficially like hawks, the new data show them to be distantly related. In line with this new phylogeny, falcons are known to have traits, such as acute ultraviolet vision, that distinguish them from hawks and other birds of prey."
• "These are just simple examples of how people are going to have to rethink the behavioral characters that have evolved," he said. "The study has raised as many questions as it has helped to resolve."
• "Birds fall into three general groups: land, water and shorebirds"
• "With this study, we learned two major things,"... "First, appearances can be deceiving. Birds that look or act similar are not necessarily related. Second, much of bird classification and conventional wisdom on the evolutionary relationships of birds is wrong."

The Bold in the quotes are mine.

That is just an example of the remarkable things they are finding out. Sounds like a fantastic God created them and we are just finding out some of His Majesty.

You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11 NKJV)

I had this article ready to go when today's mail came. There is a great article about "Speciation and the Animals on the Ark," by Daniel Criswell, Ph.D. in this month's Acts and Facts from ICR. It is a little technical, but it helps explain more of what this article is about.
Article about Baraminology from Answers in Genesis by Todd Charles Wood. Bara-What?
"Variation within Created Kinds" by Dr. Gary Parker
"Is Natural Selection the Same Thing as Evolution?" by Georgia Purdom
From Wikipedia "Baraminology"
From CreationWiki "Baraminology"

Lessons from April Faith Day 2009 (by Stephen Simpson)

We are praising the Lord for what He did yesterday at our April Faith Day. Over $90,000 was added to the building fund!! When you add the General Fund giving and Faith's 100 giving, well over $100,000 was given in the offering plates yesterday. Praise the Lord!

Here's a breakdown of the $90,000 that was donated for the building fund:

• Over $39,000 was pledged money.
  
• Over $50,000 of new money was donated. There were two $5,000 gifts and two $3,000 gifts. The rest (over $34,000) was given through many, many checks of various amounts.
  

What can we learn from this?

• There was widespread participation in our April Faith Day. 324 checks were deposited in the bank today. God did not provide through one or two large checks. He used hundreds of people to accomplish his purposes.
• God's people are extremely generous. Even though times are tough and there is a lot of economic uncertainty, God's people still gave.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Birds of the Bible - Foundation #4 (by Lee Dusing)

We will continue on with the Birds of the Bible - Foundation series.

If you have not read the previous blogs:
Foundation #1, - Foundation #2 - Foundation #3

The last article in this series left the world, Noah, his family, the animals, birds and creeping things in a rough situation. All the world was violently rearranged by the global flood and all air-breathing creation was dead, except for those on board the Ark.

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20)
But first must he (Christ-the Creator) suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:25-27)

Just as those who were saved by being in the Ark, so are we by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5)

Finally, (Noah and all were in the Ark for over a year.) Noah opened the window in the ark and sent forth a raven. The raven which flew back and forth to the ark until the land was dried up. Noah, then sent out the Dove (female) to see if the ground was off the ground. Doves are ground feeders and also like to put there nests on the ground many times. She found no resting place for her feet and so Noah put out his hand and brought her back inside. Noah waited 7 more days and sent the dove out again and this time she came back with an olive leaf. This let Noah know that the waters were receding. When he released her again 7 more days later, the dove did not return. "The surface of the ground was dry." (Genesis 8:7-12)

After 7 more days: "God spoke to Noah, saying,"

"Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease." (Genesis 8:16-22 NKJV)

That is a tremendous promise and in Genesis 9, God blesses Noah and his sons and then makes some statements:

• Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth
• Fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast, bird, all that move on the earth, all fish of the sea. Are given into your hand
• Every moving thing that lives shall be food. (Man is no longer just a vegetarian)
• You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood
• Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
• God makes a covenant with man and every living creature

Genesis 9:11-17 NKJV
(11) Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
(12) And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
(13) I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
(14) It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
(15) and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
(16) The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
(17) And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

What a tremendous promise! Even though man and critters are still cursed, God will never bring another global flood.

As for the birds and other critters, we find from God's Word that there are changes for them. They now can become food for man and other critters, they now have a fear and dread of man who has dominion over them, they now become eaters of others. They are still to reproduce and spread out and fill the earth, they are promised never to be totally destroyed again by a global flood, etc. Somewhere between the Fall in the garden of Eden and this, the nature of birds and critters is drastically changed from what God originally created them to be. All because of SIN.

Some links to some informative articles about the flood:
Noah's Flood covered the whole earth
Universality of the Genesis Flood
How Did Defense/Attack Structures Come About?

Sacrificial Giving (by Stephen Simpson)

This coming Sunday is April Faith Day. Our Capital Campaign will come to a close. Most of you know that for the past three years our church has been raising and saving money in order to build and expand our facilities. You may recall the desserts that we held three years ago. Pastor Osborne gave presentations and asked us to consider making a pledge towards the campaign. One thing that stuck in my brain was the concept of sacrificial giving. Pastor explained that gifts toward the Capital Campaign were to be extraordinary gifts. They were to be gifts over and above our regular giving.

At the time of those desserts, Nicki & I were very newly married. We both worked full-time jobs. We prayed individually and together about what God would call us to pledge. God brought both of us to the same amount. We agreed on that grand total and decided to break it down into equal monthly contributions, in addition to our regular tithes. We were certain that it was going to be a huge sacrifice; it was definitely stretching our "budget."

Fast forward three years to the present time. Much has changed! We have been blessed with two girls and have moved into a larger house. Nicki went from her full-time job, to stay-at-home Mom, back to working a few hours a week. All this means our "budget" was stretched even more than planned. I'm sure many (if not most) of you have also experienced some significant life changes these past three years.

This month, by the grace of God, we were able to send in our final monthly contribution. PRAISE THE LORD!! We have been so excited to look back and see what God has been able to accomplish. We certainly could not have done it on our own! But, as I have thought about our pledge, I have thought again of the concept of sacrificial giving. I have asked myself, "Was our pledge a sacrificial gift?" What did we have to sacrifice? What did we give up in order to give more? I can honestly tell you that our pledge truly felt like a sacrificial gift. There were times when we worried about how we would meet our monthly commitment, and it felt like we were sacrificing tremendously. But, if I'm honest, I can't really look back and provide a list of the specific things that we sacrificed. We never went hungry, and we were able to pay all of our bills. In fact, we were even able to pay off some of our debts early. We never ran out of clothes to wear. We still went on vacations. There were still Christmas presents under the tree each year, and we still exchanged birthday presents.

My point is this, God has blessed us tremendously. He has provided above our needs! I don't know about you, but I feel like I have truly grown spiritually through our giving. I look forward to the next Capital Campaign because I want to grow even more. Maybe next time I'll come closer to the true meaning of sacrificial giving.

Capital Campaign Statistics (by Stephen Simpson)

As our Capital Campaign comes to a close, consider some of these statistics.

• There were 192 different pledges
• Smallest Pledge = $39.25
  
• Largest Pledge = $300,000.00
  
• Average Pledge = $7,132.29

• Over 160 pledges were for $10,000 0r less
  
• There were 22 pledges of $10,000 or more.
• There were 9 pledges for $25,000 or more.
  
• The largest one-time cash gift was $125,000.
  

• Stock in several different companies were donated to fulfill pledges. All stock was sold as soon as it was received and the funds were added to the building fund.
  
• Property was donated to fulfill one pledge
• Some contributed directly from an IRA through the Pension Protection Act of 2006
• One interesting gift was 40 shares of stock from a company in Ohio. The stock is not publicly traded which made it somewhat complicated to sell. The Lord graciously provided a buyer who paid $400/share adding $16,000 to the capital campaign.
  

Birds of the Bible - Foundation #3 (by Lee Dusing)

We will continue on with the Birds of the Bible - Foundation series.

If you have not read the previous blogs:
Foundation #1
Foundation #2

In the last blog the "Fall" of Adam and Eve was mentioned and because of that,the "Curse" is now on them and all of God's creation. Death comes on the scene, mankind now has sinned and now each person is born as a sinner. The ground is cursed and thorns and thistle now appear.

By Genesis Chapter 6, God has had it with the sins of man.

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (Genesis 6:5-7 KJV)

The Ark by Elfred Lee

All is not lost because, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8 KJV) Because of the grace found by Noah, the LORD gives him instructions about how to build an ark including the size, materials to use, who and what will be on board, and why the ark will be needed. God makes a covenant with Noah and tells him to come in with his wife and his sons and his son's wives.

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. (Genesis 6:19-20 KJV)

He was also to provide food for all of them. And Noah obeyed all that he was told. Noah spent over 100 years preparing the ark and trying to warn others of the coming judgment. There was plenty of room on the ark for more than the 8 people who boarded the ark. The others refused to repent.

When we get to Chapter 7, the boarding of the ark takes place and the rain and flood begins. "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." (Genesis 7:1-5)

Noah did not have to round up the animals, they came to him. Because not every animal we see today came on board but the main kinds (for instance the "bird kinds" may have had a "warbler kind" but not have black and white warblers,yellow-rumped warblers, hooded warbler, etc.), which ever ones they were, there was plenty of room for them. I have an idea that because the LORD sent the animals, birds, and critters, that their DNA's were of the highest quality. (That is my opinion)                                 Doves in Israel

If you read the rest of Genesis 7, you will see that the global flood came and covered everything and only those who were in the ark survived, plus some of those that live in the water.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:21-23)

In Foundation #4 we will find out about what the birds go through as they come off the ark and after.

Happy 49th Birthday! (by Lee Dusing)

 

Today, March 20th, 2009, is my 49th Birthday! Not my original birth birthday, but my spiritual birthday. On March 20th of 1960, which was a Sunday, I attended Crossroads Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana at the invite of my sister and her husband. I decided to go that day, to break a record of attending church more than once a year, usually on Easter Sunday. That day became one that would totally change my life and its direction.

My sister, Sharry, and Joe, her husband, had recently received the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and had been witnessing to me. We were not raised in a home that went to church regularly, but only taken occasionally. I really had no idea about being a sinner nor about John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I knew that at 16, I did things that were not right and that there was something lacking in my life.

So, there I was, listening to the sermon by Rev. Charlie Kittrell. As he gave his message I realized that I was a sinner, ("As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10), there was a penalty for sin and also a gift of salvation (For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23), and that I needed to ask forgiveness for my sins and accept the Lord as my Savior. ("That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation," Romans 10:9-10). When the invitation was given, I went forward and a lady showed me how to accept the Lord, and I did.

For the rest of this: Happy 49th Birthday!

The Stewardship of Resources (Pastor Osborne)

(from Pastor Osborne)

Stewardship of Resources is serious business and God's will is that we give it serious attention. This demands that we have the right perspective on our resources and that is possible if we have the right focus on our Source. Everything we have, every earthly source, comes from a heavenly Source. God is our faithful Supplier and it is His plan that we be faithful stewards.

Our tangible resources fall into two categories: monetary and material. All resources, whether monetary or material, are the result of God's favor and blessing, not one's personal achievements. Therefore, we must consciously dedicate those resources to Him.

Regardless of the amount of money you have, it can be stewarded in a wise and profitable manner. There are three things to do with money:

1. Give it cheerfully to accomplish God honoring purposes.
2. Spend it reasonably to meet personal needs and fulfill God honoring personal desires.
3. Save it strategically in order to extend value and to keep meeting God honoring needs in the future.

Some have been blessed by God with a lot and some have been blessed by God with a little, but we can all give generously, joyfully, and sacrificially.

Birds of the Bible - Foundation #2 (by Lee Dusing)

We will continue with the Foundation from the Word of God (the Bible) about the creation of birds.

If you have not read "Birds of the Bible - Foundation #1" Click Here

By the end of Genesis Chapter 1 the birds (fowls of the air):

• Created by the Lord on Day 5
• Each according to its kind
• Told to multiply and fill the earth
• Were given every green herb for food (vegetarians)
• Placed under the dominion of man
• "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good."

In Chapter 2, the birds are named by Adam. (v 19-20)

At this point, we know that the birds were at their best, they were eating fruits, seeds, herbs and not each other. The birds had been named according to their kinds by Adam, who was created on Day 6. Their colors and features were at their grandest showing the Glory of God's wisdom and omnipotence. They must have been fantastic to behold.

BUT WE COME TO GENESIS CHAPTER 3
....... For the rest of the article: Click Here

Stewardship Month & April Faith Day 2009 (by Pastor Osborne)

(Author: Pastor Osborne)

We have traditionally made the month of March our Stewardship month. Stewardship month ends on the first Sunday of April which we call April Faith Day. April Faith day is the one sacrificial offering Faith Baptist Church receives each year. Every year we give large gifts to Missionaries or Missionary projects out of our april Faith Day offering. This year we celebrate the blessings God has given to us. Our Capital Campaign draws to a close at the end of March and if all the pledges come in and the property in Lake Wales sells at its appraised value we have a projected total of $2,427,572.44 to the praise of God's Glory. We want to celebrate God's goodness by giving two gifts this year.

• A $10,000 gift to missionary evangelist Patricio Oliva who is doing an incredible work for our God in South America. Patricio along with his interpreter Melody (Dooley) Priest has been in our pulpit and been a great blessing to our people

• A $10,000 gift to Jared Malcolm who is our Faith's 100 Missionary to Brazil. Jared, along with a team of 20 from our church will be traveling to Brazil on June 7 to finish building the house that Jared will be living in (pictured here). this gift would finish the work on the house and furnish it as Jared stays in Brazil to assist the missionaries and Brazilian people by providing a quality working camp facility.
  

With great joy we can sing To God Be the Glory great things He is doing here at home and overseas.

Birds of the Bible - Foundation #1 (by Lee Dusing)

If you read my blog, Impact of the Answers in Genesis Conference, I stated that the Foundation of the Word of God needs to be emphasized. For the last year, the different Birds of the Bible have been introduced. Where did the birds come from? The byline of this blog is "Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective." What does God's Word say about the bird's Creation?

Most birdwatchers know that when they pick up a Bird Guide or Book, one of the first thing we read is:

"Having attained the power of flight more than 150 million years ago, birds might be ..." (Smithsonian Handbooks, Birds of North America, Eastern Region, page 6)

"Feathered Dinosaurs?
For years biologists have half-jokingly referred to birds as "feathered reptiles." In part, it is a ploy to annoy bird lovers with the thought that the objects of their fancy are just singing lizards wrapped in stretched-out scales called "feathers." Yet the phrase reflects an important biological reality: birds are undeniably the modified descendants of reptiles, as their body structure and habit of laying eggs out of water clearly show."
"Archaeopteryx makes an ideal "missing link," showing characteristics intermediate between reptiles and birds.....One view, still held by many paleontologists, suggests that about 200 million years ago its ancestral line split off from a group of reptiles, the thecodonts." (The Birder's Handbook, p. 31-33)

"The Implications of Flight / The central theme of bird evolution is flight. Most avian features can be related back to this fundamental adaptation. The avian forelimbs are dedicated almost entirely to aerial flight, for instance. To meet the diverse demands of survival without hands, birds have been subject to a fascinating evolutionary makeover." ... "Birds have evolved compact...." (p. 15) Section called Origins, Evolution, and Classification states - "Bird Are Reptiles - Before the discovery of Archaeopteryx" ("about 150 million years")," taxonomists had already suggested a close relationship between birds and reptiles because of the large number of anatomical features shared by the two classes of animals." Goes on to mention "missing link" (p. 39, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior)

On and on it goes. They state as "undeniable facts" many things that come from a "theory."

But the Word of God, our Bible says differently.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Continuing through Chapter 1, you find that God, who is the "self-existent", "three-in-one", known as "I AM", did the creation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

Day 1 - Light (Day) and darkness (Night)
Day 2 - Firmament (Heaven) in midst of the waters and divided them
Day 3 - Waters (Seas) gathered together and the dry land (Earth) appeared with grass, herbs and fruit after his kind
Day 4 - Sun, Moon, and Stars
Day 5 - Great whales and all water creatures after his kind and the winged fowls (birds) after his kind

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)

Day 6 - Land animals, cattle, and creeping things after their kind

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:24-26 )

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Genesis 1:27-29)

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:30-31)

Day 7 - God rested and blessed and sanctified all His work

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)

In Birds of the Bible - Foundation #2, I will bring out some more from the Word of God and articles written about the creation of birds. For now, let me make this observation. If the birds were created on Day 5 and the reptiles were created on Day 6, how did birds evolve from reptiles?

Birds of the Bible - Swallows (by Lee Dusing)

Somehow I overlooked the Swallows on the first go-around of the "Birds of the Bible" series. This blog hopes to correct that oversight.

To the Chief Musician. On An Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young-- Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah (Psalm 84:1-4 NKJV)

Following are some quotes from Gill and Matthew Henry:

"because it freely visits the houses of men without fear" - (Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible)

"III. His (David's) grudging the happiness of the little birds that made their nests in the buildings that were adjoining to God's altars, Psa_84:3. This is an elegant and surprising expression of his affection to God's altars: The sparrow has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself. These little birds, by the instinct and direction of nature, provide habitations for themselves in houses, as other birds do in the woods, both for their own repose and in which to lay their young; some such David supposes there were in the buildings about the courts of God's house, and wishes himself with them. He would rather live in a bird's nest nigh God's altars than in a palace at a distance from them. He sometimes wished for the wings of a dove, on which to fly into the wilderness (Psa_55:6); here for the wings of a sparrow, that he might fly undiscovered into God's courts; and, though to watch as a sparrow alone upon the house-top is the description of a very melancholy state and spirit (Psa_102:7), yet David would be glad to take it for his lot, provided he might be near God's altars. It is better to be serving God in solitude than serving sin with a multitude. The word for a sparrow signifies any little bird, and (if I may offer a conjecture) perhaps when, in David's time, music was introduced so much into the sacred service, both vocal and instrumental, to complete the harmony they had singing-birds in cages hung about the courts of the tabernacle (for we find the singing of birds taken notice of to the glory of God, Psa_104:12), and David envies the happiness of these, and would gladly change places with them. Observe, David envies the happiness not of those birds that flew over the altars, and had only a transient view of God's courts, but of those that had nests for themselves there. David ... takes notice that these birds not only have nests for themselves there, but that there they lay their young; for those who have a place in God's

courts themselves cannot but desire that their children also may have in God's house, and within his walls, a place and a name, that they may feed their kids beside the shepherds' tents." (Matthew Henry Commentary)

I trust that those of us that are Christians enjoy and look forward to the time we spend in church. In times like these, we need:
1. A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord (John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:18)
2. A place to "study to show thyself approved" and be nurtured by the preaching and teaching of the Word of God (Romans 10:14, 2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16)
3. A place of fellowship (Acts 2:42)

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight. (Proverbs 26:2 NKJV)

Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; My eyes fail from looking upward. O LORD, I am oppressed; Undertake for me! (Isaiah 38:14 NKJV) (This verse was mentioned in the "Birds of the Bible - Cranes" blog)

"Even the stork in the heavens Knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow Observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD. (Jeremiah 8:7 NKJV) (This verse was covered in the "Interesting Things - A Lesson from the Stork" blog.)

Swallows are in the Hirundinidae Family which includes Martins. "Within the Hirundiniae, the name 'martin' tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork-tailed species; however, there is no scientific distinction between these two groups.[1] The family contains around 83 species in 19 genera." The subfamilies are: Saw-wings (including Square-tailed, Mountain, White-headed, Black and Fanti), Swallows (many including Barn, Bank, Cave Mangrove, Golden, etc), Martins (Purple, Cuban, Sinaloa, Brown-chested, etc.), Sand Martins (including Brown-throated, Congo, Pale, Banded).

The swallows are found on all continents except Antarctica with the largest diversity of species in Africa. They are found on many islands, as there are quite a few that migrate long distances. God has designed them with short bills, but with a wide mouth that has a strong jaw. This is useful in there hunt for insects which they catch on the wing. With their streamlined body and wings that are pointed, they are very maneuverable at great speeds. Their forked long tail, that has 12 feathers, helps them steer. They can range from 3.9-9.4 inches and weight between 0.4-2.1 ounces.

More information about Swallows can be found at:

Swallow (Wikipedia)
Swallow videos on Internet Bird Collection
Swallows at Britannica Online Encyclopedia