God has a GREAT Imagination - Beetles

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God News Looking for the character and personality of God in His creation. Issue # 1 Editor: Ron McCluskey mailto:editor@trackinggod.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to TRACKING GOD NEWS You are receiving this ezine because you or someone else requested a subscription at this address. To be removed from our mailing list, please see the unsubscribe instructions at the end of this newsletter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN THIS ISSUE Sponsorship Advertisement God has a GREAT Imagination Short Tip #1 Feature Advertisement God's imagination in the Bible Short tip #2 or entertainment break Product Review From our Readers Classified Advertising Contact Information OUR SPONSOR FOR THIS ISSUE IS (insert sponsor name here) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Replace this text with your sponsor ad.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God's Imagination ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A famous entomologist was once asked what he had learned from his lifelong study of insects. He replied, "God has an inordinate fondness for beetles." That would seem to be true, because at last count, scientists have named over 400,000 species of them. To give you an idea of how many that is, there are about 15,000 species of birds in the world. In fact, if you lined up all species of life including bacteria, plants, animals, worms and insects every fifth one would be a beetle! If we were to try to come up with designs for different types of beetles, most of us could come up with 25 different designs. Some of us could probably figure out a few hundred. But, can you imagine the type of intelligence that it takes to design over 400,000 variations on a theme? And each of them is perfect. They have all their parts working. No matter how great our imagination, we would probably never think about creating a beetle with a flame thrower in it, but that is what God did! There is a small group of beetles called bombardier beetles. They are nothing special to look at, but God put a very special protective mechanism in them. They have a built in flame thrower in the back end of these beetles. They can aim it in any direction and fire it at will. It shoots caustic chemicals at any attacker that are boiling temperature. It can shoot 20 bursts a second. The mechanism that shoots these hot chemicals is a marvel of design. There is a small chamber that holds the chemicals that will eventually explode. When the beetle feels threatened, that chamber will contract causing a small amount of these chemicals to enter a second chamber. In that chamber, there are chemicals which cause an explosion. At the tip of the abdomen, there is a small turret which can be pointed in any direction. When the chemicals explode the burst through this small turret. Once, many years ago, when people still traveled by wood burning trains, there were two entomologists traveling in the southern United States. When the train stopped to take on water, these men went out into a field to collect insects. When the train whistle blew, one of the men had an insect clutched tightly in each hand. By the time he got back to the train, it was moving. With his hands full, he could not grab onto the hand rail and pull himself onto the train. So, without thinking, he popped one of the insects into his mouth. It happened to be a bombardier beetle. He later wrote in his journal that he could sympathize with any predator that tried to eat this small insect because he immediately had a very hot burning sensation in his mouth! It is amazing to me that God would expend the effort and planning necessary to create these tiny creatures. They are perfect examples of miniaturization. Their tiny parts all fitted together to make them not only survive, but thrive. It is evident that there was a lot of loving attention given to them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORT TIP #1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Replace this text with your tip.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURE ADVERTISEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Replace this text with your feature ad.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ God's imagination in the Bible ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It has been said that man's extremity is God's opportunity. That can clearly be seen in the many ways that God delivered people in the Bible. It is a good exercise to count the ways that God has saved people. Some examples include parting the Red Sea with wind, providing a big fish to swallow a drowning prophet, making 3 men fireproof and making a stone altar flammable. Is there anything that God cannot do? As an exercise today, make a list of all the things that God did to save His people. This is a great faith builder. When you have a problem, you can be sure that God has enough imagination and power to provide the answer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God News IS PUBLISHED BY: http://www.trackinggod.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ copyright 2002 Ron McCluskey You may reproduce this newsletter in part or in whole providing that you include the website, contact information and resource links.